As David Warner prepares for his final Test, a look back at some of the key moments of his career

Andrew McGlashan31-Dec-2023January 5, 2007David Warner makes his professional debut in a T20 for New South Wales against Queensland. He scores 20 off 11 balls batting at No. 6.January 11, 2009Age 22, Warner makes his international debut in a T20I against South Africa before having played a first-class match. He smashes 89 off 43 at the MCG, including consecutive sixes off Dale Steyn to go to a 19-ball fifty. “It was just like you were out there with Gilly [Adam Gilchrist] when Gilly’s in one of those moods,” captain Ricky Ponting said. “It was pretty entertaining stuff, pretty special clean sort of striking.”March 5, 2009Warner is handed his first-class debut for New South Wales alongside Mitchell Starc. He bats a No. 6, hitting 42 off 48 balls and sharing a stand of 80 with Usman Khawaja, who is unbeaten on 172.January 18, 2009Ten days after that game, Warner has his ODI debut in Hobart. He falls for 5, but in his next match in Sydney he makes 69 off 60 balls albeit in an Australia defeat.March 29, 2010Scores his maiden T20 hundred with 107 off 69 balls for Delhi Daredevils in the IPL.October 2011Hits back-to-back T20 hundreds (135 off 69 balls and 123 off 68 balls) for New South Wales in the Champions League.December 9, 2011His Test debut had come a week before in Brisbane, but he was a central figure on what became an epic match in Hobart. He carried his bat for 123 in Australia’s second innings but came up agonisingly short of victory when Nathan Lyon fell to give New Zealand the game by seven runs.David Warner celebrates the fourth quickest century in Tests, against India in 2012•Getty ImagesJanuary 13, 2012In his fifth Test, Warner flays 180 off 159 balls against India at the WACA with his century off just 69. “I was actually looking at my strike rate and I said this ain’t Test cricket, this is something different,” Warner said. “It’s just how I approach the game. I show intent, and it came off today.”June-July 2013Warner is suspended by Cricket Australia after an altercation with Joe Root in the Birmingham Walkabout bar following the Champions Trophy match at Edgbaston. He then misses the first two Tests of that summer’s Ashes after being sent on the Australia A tour of Zimbabwe to find form before being recalled at Old Trafford.January-December 2014In nine Tests during the year, Warner scores 1136 runs at 63.11 with six centuries, including back-to-back tons in Adelaide against India. It remains his most prolific year average-wise (except a lone Test in 2020) and the most hundreds he has scored in a calendar year.March 29, 2015Is part of the Australia side that wins the ODI World Cup with victory over New Zealand at the MCG.David Warner at his first press conference a week after the ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town•Getty ImagesJanuary-December 2016In ODI cricket, he scores 1388 runs at 63.09 for the year with seven centuries, the most by an Australian in a calendar year.March 22, 2018The most controversial episode of Warner’s career, where he is one of three players banned for the sandpaper ball tampering incident in Cape Town on what had already been a hostile tour of South Africa where he had been involved in a stairway altercation with Quinton de Kock in Durban. Warner, along with Steven Smith, is handed a year’s ban (Cameron Bancroft gets nine months) but it also comes with a lifetime leadership ban.June 1, 2019Warner makes his comeback to international cricket at the start of the ODI World Cup where he hits an unbeaten 89 against Afghanistan and goes on to amasses 647 runs at the tournament with two centuries.July-August, 2019Averages just 9.50 in the Ashes series as he is tormented by England’s quicks, especially Stuart Broad, from around the wicket. It’s the lowest average in history for an opener with at least ten innings in a series.There’s no doubt who won this contest late in David Warner’s career•Getty ImagesOctober 27, 2019Hits his maiden T20I hundred against Sri Lanka, meaning he has centuries in all three international formats.November 29, 2019Warner plunders an unbeaten 335 against Pakistan in Adelaide, the second-highest score for Australia in Test cricket behind Matthew Hayden and one run ahead of Mark Taylor and Don Bradman. “You grow up knowing what those milestones are,” he said. “Forever you talk about Donald Bradman. I remember Michael Clarke at the SCG declared on 329 not out. They’re things that you look at the history books and say, ‘how did they get there – that’s a long time in the middle’. I managed to go out there and do that, but it takes an incredible amount of patience which I surprised myself.”November 14, 2021Is named Player of the Tournament as Australia win the T20 World Cup for the first time with victory over New Zealand in Dubai. Scores 53 off 38 balls in the final.December 8, 2022Warner angrily withdraws his attempts to have the lifetime leadership ban overturned when the appeal panel insists on holding the hearing in public. “Some things are more important than cricket,” he said. “They want to conduct a public spectacle to, in the panel’s words, have a ‘cleansing’. I am not prepared for my family to be the washing machine for cricket’s dirty laundry.”David Warner scaled new heights against Pakistan in 2019•AFPDecember 26, 2022Becomes just the second player to mark his 100th Test with a double-century with his first hundred in nearly two years. “When your back’s against the wall, you can only look to move forward, that’s how I’ve always been,” he said. “It was emotional, it was hard out there, it was draining. The build-up, the articles… but to come out here and just back myself and look to score, have that intent, which was probably missing from the last 12 months. It was a magical moment and so proud to do it in front of my family and friends.”June 4, 2023Ahead of the World Test Championship final and the Ashes, Warner outlines his plan to retire after the Sydney Test against Pakistan in early 2024. “I’ve always played every game as if it’s my last,” he said. “That’s my style of cricket. I enjoy being around the guys, I love being part of the team, trying to be that ball of energy in the group. I want to just keep working as hard as I can to get there.”November 19, 2023Finishes as Australia’s leading run-scorer (535 at 48.63) in the ODI World Cup as they take the title with victory over India. Having also won the WTC earlier in the year, he is among the group of Australians to have held global titles in all three formats.

Dan Lawrence’s move to Surrey was the shock of the summer… until Jordan Cox replaced him at Essex

Andrew Miller and Matt Roller27-Mar-2024They don’t come much more Essex than Dan Lawrence. He spent the first half of his life living in a house that backed onto Chingford Cricket Club, where his dad Mark is the groundsman, and speaks with an unmistakable accent. He has played more than 200 games for the county across formats, scoring 15 hundreds, and his girlfriend is the chief executive’s daughter.No wonder, then, that commuting into The Oval and pulling on a Surrey tracksuit for his new county’s media day on Wednesday felt a little strange. “It’s very new,” Lawrence said with a sheepish grin. “But I’m just really excited to get going, to be honest. It’s obviously a brilliant club, and I’m excited to crack on.”Lawrence’s move happened quickly last summer, and caught most people in county cricket by surprise. Essex said that he rejected “a very strong three-year contract” to stay put and those involved in the deal have insisted that his desire to make the move meant that money did not play much of a role.The deal was wrapped up and announced within two weeks of June 1, the date on which out-of-contract players are allowed to speak to other counties. “As soon as Surrey came knocking, it was a pretty quick decision for me to come this way,” Lawrence said. “To be honest, I think the only club I would have come to would have been here.”Related

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So why Surrey? “I felt like for the benefit of my career, it was time to explore somewhere else,” he explained. “It’s great coming to a club that’s really successful and has won a lot in the last few years; being around a group of players who are very like-minded and inspiring to try and achieve the same thing.”The appeal of batting at The Oval is quite a big thing for me. The wickets are very good and it allows you more opportunity to score big, bulk runs. It’s been frustrating running the drinks quite a lot for England: it’s been ten Tests in a row I’ve sat there and watched. It’s been great to be there but obviously I want to play and I feel like this place gives me the best opportunity to play for England again.”There is also the prospect of moving into London permanently – even if navigating the housing market alongside the early stages of the county season will be a challenge. “The price difference is a bit much from Essex,” Lawrence joked. “Me and my girlfriend are obviously quite a young couple, so we’re quite keen to get into the mix and see what London has got for us. It should be great.””It’s been ten Tests in a row I’ve sat there and watched”•AFP/Getty ImagesA similar sense that the action was elsewhere was the spur for Lawrence’s replacement at Essex to hop across the Thames Estuary and complete the second-most eye-catching move of the English off-season, one which was finalised around six weeks after Lawrence’s own departure was confirmed.It’s coming up for four years since Jordan Cox announced himself with an extraordinary 238 not out for Kent against Sussex in the Covid-era Bob Willis Trophy; it’s been 18 months since Cox’s first England call-up, as an unused reserve on the T20 tour of Pakistan in September 2022. Since then, however, a badly broken finger has hampered his progress, and midway through last summer he decided he could wait no longer to reignite his ambition.”I needed a change,” Cox said at Chelmsford, on his first day in Essex colours. “When you’re not enjoying your cricket at 22, 23, that’s when you need to branch out and experience something new. I wasn’t performing great last year in the red-ball side of it, but I wasn’t enjoying the off-field side more than the actual play. So, I took the opportunity to get out of my contract, which I think was needed.””Pulling the pin”, as he put it, did not go down especially well with his former club, with Kent stating that they were “disappointed” in a terse press release, and with Sam Billings, the club captain, criticising his decision on social media. Cox, however, insisted he had “never shut the door”, and that he’d be open to a return to the club that he had represented since the age of 10 if Kent’s ambition across formats could match his own.”It might sound a bit rogue, but I’d rather play Test cricket than T20 cricket,” he said. “How Baz [McCullum] and [Ben] Stokes are doing this Bazball type of cricket, why wouldn’t you want to play? It looks like a great environment.”Kent are fighting for the Blast every year. They are consistently very good, but in four-day cricket, I don’t think they are at this moment. I’ve never had many feelings of a four-day win. For a couple of years at Kent, we were pretty consistently doing 140 overs in the dirt, every single game. So it would be nice to be on the other end of it, and reignite my love of four-day cricket.”Cox was an unused squad member of England’s 2022 tour to Pakistan•Getty ImagesThere was another big draw for Cox. Having spent five formative years at Felsted School, nine miles down the road from the County Ground, he admitted that the chance to work on a daily basis with Jason Gallian, his former school coach who is now chair of Essex’s cricket committee, had been a clincher.”It was a very big reason,” Cox said. “He’s still my batting coach today. He’s in Australia at the minute on holiday which is lovely, but I need him back for my grind!”He’s been awesome since I was in year nine, like 14 years of age. Because he’s seen me since I was young, when I had that freedom and didn’t really care about things, he’ll be like ‘why are you not doing this, like you used to do?’. Sometimes, depending on where you bat in franchise cricket, you’re just slogging, so then to get back into the red-ball side of it again, he sorts out my technique.”As for filling Lawrence’s shoes at Essex, Cox insisted that he was focused only on his own game, but said he recognised the restlessness that had caused his predecessor to seek pastures new.”Dan’s been pretty unlucky hasn’t he?” Cox said. “For Brooky [Harry Brook] to have the year that he did was pretty unbelievable. Dan has been pushed aside, in a way, which is just probably unlucky but a bit annoying for him. But I think it’ll come to him. I can’t see why it wouldn’t. Because he’s now classified as an allrounder with his bowling, so he’s always got a chance.”That’s certainly the view of the man himself, with Lawrence also believing that he’ll have a better chance to develop his idiosyncratic offspin at The Oval, having found opportunities limited by the success of Matt Critchley and, in particular, Simon Harmer at Essex. “If you’re taking a few wickets as well as scoring runs, your chances increase of playing for England,” he said.”It’s our job to help him evolve as a player, and try to be better,” Gareth Batty, Surrey’s coach, said. “The sky is the limit for the young man. I think he could be a genuine allrounder; there is enough with his bowling that we can evolve it beautifully.” With Will Jacks absent on IPL duty in the early months of the county season, Lawrence will likely deputise as Surrey’s main spin option.Gareth Batty hopes to convert Lawrence into a “genuine allrounder”•Getty ImagesOf course, Lawrence isn’t alone in gearing up for a shot at glory at The Oval this summer. Despite his new surroundings, Cox is no less eager for a return to Oval Invincibles for the 2024 Hundred, where he hopes to pick up where he left off as the tournament top-scorer last year, prior to his broken finger.”The Oval is the best place to play cricket, 100%,” he said. “It is a full crowd every game, an awesome wicket, and also, you’re playing with some pretty decent players. Plus, Tom Moody is there as the head coach and I like to follow him as much as I can.”I think it’s the best tournament in the world, and I’m happy to say that,” he added. “I haven’t been to the IPL but it’s nine weeks and the Hundred is three-and-a-half, four weeks. All the overseas want to come, I was talking to the boys in Abu Dhabi and Pakistan, they were all saying ‘the draft’s next week. I can’t wait. I really want to come.’ And I’m like, mate, it’s the best comp ever. Like, unbelievable. The crowds are great and the standard of cricket’s quality.”Despite his palpable ambition, Cox knows that his sole focus has to be on the challenge that lies directly in front of him. “Do the best you can for Essex and it can kick on,” he said. “Like Harry Brook two years ago, he did his thing for Yorkshire, he scored those ridiculous amounts of runs. That made him get picked for England.”He wasn’t desperate just to play for England – he just knew it would come when it comes – but he wanted to score runs for Yorkshire. Hopefully this is the year that I do a Harry Brook. That’d be nice. But if you don’t have that self-belief, then you’re going to be struggling.”

An XI packed with experience, youth, a long batting line-up and world-class allrounders

Mohammad Isam02-Mar-2024

1 Tamim Iqbal (capt)

Tamim rose to the top of this season’s runs chart with his consistent showing for Barishal. Having made three fifties in the tournament – 71 against Durdanto Dhaka, 66 against Comilla and 52 not out against Chattogram Challengers – he struck a quick 39 in the final to lead Barishal to their maiden title. This was the fourth time he finished with 400-plus runs in a BPL season.

2 Tanzid Hasan

Tanzid scored only one fifty in his first nine games in the tournament. There was also a two-ball duck in that stretch. It seemed like the opener, who is regarded highly by everyone important in Bangladesh cricket, wasn’t living up to his billing. Then came the game against Dhaka in which Tanzid made 70 off 51 balls. In the next game, he struck his maiden T20 hundred: 116 off 65. It was instrumental in taking Chattogram to the knockouts.

3 Towhid Hridoy

Hridoy finished the campaign as the second-highest run-getter, but more importantly, he looked like the most improved batter in the season. Hridoy set the tournament alight when he blasted an unbeaten 108 off 57 balls against Dhaka. Two games later, he scored an unbeaten 91 off 47 against Khulna Tigers and then 64 in the first qualifier against Rangpur Riders. He was the third-highest scorer in the 2023 edition as well. The only improvement he would want next season is to become the BPL champion; he has now lost three finals in a row.Babar Azam made important runs for Rangpur Riders•Raton Gomes/BCB

4 Babar Azam

Babar was available for only six games for Rangpur but they won five of those. Babar made only 2 in the only one they didn’t win. He started the season with an unbeaten 56. Two games later, he scored 62 against Dhaka, and finished the tournament with a pair of 47s. He didn’t hit a lot of sixes, but made important runs at a fair clip.

5 James Neesham

Once Babar left, Neesham filled that hole in Rangpur’s batting line-up perfectly. Just like Babar, he also scored a fifty in his first game. He hammered two more unbeaten fifties, including the 97 against Comilla in the first qualifier. With a strike rate of 167.24, Neesham was the tournament’s most destructive batter.

6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk)

Mushfiqur was the best wicketkeeper-batter of BPL 2024, his experience outshining Litton Das and Nurul Hasan as he helped Barishal to their maiden title. A feisty cricketer, Mushfiqur guided his side through a tricky period in the second qualifier, apart from scoring three fifties overall. His keeping was top class too. He pouched everything that came his way and made important saves in the playoffs.James Neesham scored his runs at a strike rate of 167.24•Rangpur Riders

7 Kyle Mayers

A late entrant to the BPL, Mayers made an instant impact for Barishal. He started with 48 and 3 for 12 against Sylhet Strikers, and then registered 46 and 2 for 31 against Rangpur in the next match. He made a half-century against Chattogram and a brilliant 46 in the final against Comilla to be named the Player of the Match. Mayers’ strokemaking, particularly the checked drives, enthralled the audience. He also bowled beautifully with the new ball, often finding swing when others couldn’t.

8 Shakib Al Hasan

Although Shakib’s campaign ended in a whimper in the second qualifier against Barishal where he made just one run and bowled only nine deliveries, he was on fire in the rest of the tournament prior to that. Despite an eye condition affecting his batting in the first few matches, he smacked 255 runs at a strike rate of 158.38. With the ball, he took 17 wickets.

9 Mohammad Saifuddin

There were lots of doubt about his fitness, but Saifuddin had a superb campaign. He took 15 wickets in nine appearances, often bowling splendidly with the new ball and providing early breakthroughs. He did not pick up a lot of wickets at the death but ensured Barishal didn’t have to think about anyone else when he was around. In the final, despite bowling three wides and a no-ball in the 20th over, he conceded only seven against Andre Russell and Jaker Ali.Shoriful Islam picked up lots of wickets but Durdanto Dhaka won just one of their 12 games•Durdanto Dhaka

10 Bilal Khan

Oman’s left-arm quick Bilal was effective with his angles and variations and finished his first BPL campaign as the joint-fourth-highest wicket-taker. He was instrumental in Chattogram’s good start and later a superb finish against Khulna. In that game, Bilal had figures of 2 for 13 from his four overs. He took 3 for 24 against Sylhet, his best figures in the tournament.

11 Shoriful Islam

Shoriful, comfortably the highest wicket-taker in the tournament, was one of the few bright spots for Dhaka, who had an abysmal campaign, losing 11 of their 12 matches. Shoriful started the tournament with 3 for 27 against Comilla, and his best was 4 for 24 against Sylhet. He went wicketless in just two games.

He improved India across formats, in a time of transition, leaving his successor with immense shoes to fill

Karthik Krishnaswamy01-Jul-20242:23

Manjrekar: Rohit’s World Cup win a great reward for a champion cricketer

India are sent in to bat in a World Cup final. They begin with a bang. They lose a clump of wickets. They retrench. They promote an allrounder who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm spin above more obviously attacking options.All these things happened on November 19, 2023. They happened again on June 29, 2024.India lost on November 19, 2023. They came to a point on June 29, 2024, when they had, according to ESPNcricinfo’s Forecaster, a 96.65% chance of losing.On both days, Rahul Dravid sat in India’s dugout, with no way of controlling any of the events unfolding in the field, knowing that they would come to define him.Only the best teams get to the semi-finals or final of nearly every global tournament they play, but once they’re there, they’re competing with other seriously good teams. You might be better than them by any number of parameters, and might have built better records than them over many years, but none of that guarantees beating them on that day.This might be your third white-ball World Cup as head coach, and you might have got to the final of this one with a 21-3 record over those three tournaments, but you haven’t won any of them, have you? You didn’t win your one red-ball final either. And here you are now, powerless, your fate partly in the hands of other people and partly at the mercy of sheer randomness, with your opponents needing 30 off 30 balls.This was Dravid, five overs away from the end of his tenure as India’s head coach. Five overs away from world champion or serial choker.

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If you’re of a certain generation, the sight of Dravid roaring with the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy clutched high over his head might have taken you back to another victory celebration from another time.Compare Kensington Oval, 2024…

Rahul Dravid, #T20WorldCup winning coach pic.twitter.com/PObB9epWUJ

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) June 29, 2024