Former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann believes David Warner, despite his struggles in Test cricket, should play in the Ashes. In June, Australia will travel to England for the Ashes series.
Warner scored 1 and 10 in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar series in Nagpur, and he had another forgettable performance in the second Test in New Delhi, scoring 15 in the first innings. He had to return home due to an elbow injury.
Warner has never scored a century in his 25 Test innings in England and has only scored a half-century once in his last 15 five-day appearances.
Cricket Australia (CA) could provide the perfect send-off to Warner by playing him down the order in the Ashes, according to Lehmann, who stepped down as Australia’s head coach following the ball-tampering scandal in South Africa in 2018.
Lehmann elaborated on Warner’s struggles against veteran England seamers Stuart Broad and James Anderson, saying inclusion in the Ashes would be at the discretion of the selectors.
“(Stuart) Broad and (James) Anderson are going to be quite difficult; Warner’s struggled with that (seam) in England, so whether they get him there or not will be a selectors’ call.
“My gut feeling is they’ll take him in the squad (for the Ashes), but will they play him? I’m not so sure. But if you take him in the squad, you might as well play him or don’t take him at all,” added Lehmann.