Australia opener David Warner has revealed how wife Candice played a key role in his transformation into a world-class batsman by bringing discipline into his previously erratic lifestyle.
In a chat show with reputed journalist Harsha Bhogle on Cricbuzz, Warner acknowledged that growing up, one thing that was missing in him “was the discipline side of things,” and Candice, a retired ironwoman and model, forced him into adopting a systematic way of living. The two started dating in 2013, and got married two years later.
“Not being rude, but I never used to listen to many people, except my parents,” Warner said. “But when Candice came into my life, as an athlete herself, she was like, ‘Why would you drink a day before a game? Why would you contemplate staying awake after midnight, or why would you not train today?’
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“There was no rest for her, no alcohol. Anything that ever hindered her sport, she was like, ‘You’re not an athlete, how can you do that?’
“[Candice was] Up at 5 o’clock in the morning to go and train. I was like, ‘We don’t play cricket at 5 am, we play cricket at 8 o’clock at night.
“But the beauty of it was she was teaching me discipline, and I think that’s what was missing from my youth, coming through the cricket system, was the discipline side of things. From there, I got up at 4.30 am, I trained, I did it for at least 10 weeks, and it completely changed me.
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The change started reflecting in his cricket, as Warner had a bumper 2014 and 2015 in Test cricket, scoring 1,000+ runs in both those years, and turning a new leaf in his ODI career, averaging 54.33, 63.09 and 57.58 from 2015-2017.
“I saw cricket and I saw my life from a different perspective, and it just grew and grew and grew, and I haven’t look back since.”
