David Warner, the Australia opening batsman, accepted that it was “bizarre” to play an Australia v England encounter without fans in the stadium but felt nice to not get abuse for the first time in the country.
Warner was repeatedly reminded of his part in the infamous Sandpaper gate ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018 during the ODI World Cup and the Ashes last year, but with no fan presence in the stadium due to Covid-19 regulations, he was relieved to have received no abuse.
The Jos Buttler effect.#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/5epem14YK8
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 4, 2020
“It was the first time I’ve been here and not got abuse,” Warner said after the two-run defeat in the first of the three-T20I series. “It was quite nice.”
When quizzed whether the encounter felt like a typical England-Australia encounter, Warner said: “From a crowd perspective, no. It was a bit bizarre. You get that up and going (from the crowd).
“That’s why we love playing home and away. There’s home advantage and away advantage. But we’re always up for international cricket. We’re just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that.”
“That is something to keep working on and that’s not the first time it’s happened.”
What do you think Australia could have done better to come out on the winning side?https://t.co/C97BultDCt
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 5, 2020
Warner, 58, and captain Aaron Finch, 46, added 98 runs for the opening wicket to launch Australia’s chase of 163 in fine fashion but the middle order’s failure to cash in on the start cost them the match.
“We pride ourselves on being there at the end,” he said. “We talk about one batter being there and in, and the next guy comes in and tries to take those calculated risks – and we bat to the end. If you get a good delivery you can’t do anything about it but that’s what we pride ourselves on and that’s basically what our game is built around.”
