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.
“David Warner, if he’s in form, he’s got something to add. The issue for me would be he’s been there (England) three times and hasn’t made a 100,” Lehmann told SEN Radio on Wednesday.
“I thought in the last Ashes series he should bat down (the order) and bat five or six, something different because he can really expose their bowling down the order.” Lehmann opined that the team management should be more flexible and swap Warner and Travis Head’s batting positions.
“We just keep him as an opener… but David Warner, if he’s not succeeding at the top, could bat down, you could swap Warner and (Travis) Head. Sometimes you’ve got to think outside the box to see who’s going to succeed.” Head came in as a substitute opener for Warner in the second innings of the Test in New Delhi and scored a polished 43, though Australia lost the game by 6 wickets (Delhi).