David Warner was down with illness for a couple of days. (Source: AP)
Australian captain, Steve Smith has cleared the air over David Warner’s participation in the first ODI on Sunday at the MCG and stated that he is a certainty to start the game. Warner, who is the vice-captain of the side, was down with a bout of illness and speculations surrounding his participation were rife when he was not involved in the practice session on Saturday and only took a few laps of the ground. However, with Smith clearly stating that Warner will play the match, the matter seems to be put to rest.
“I think he’s ok, he was having a bit of a gastro issue yesterday. He turned up here today and walked the oval a few times. He said he’ll be fine so I don’t think there’ll be any trouble there,” cricbuzz quoted Smith saying.
Since the Champions Trophy, Australia has won only five out of the 15 matches they have played. On the composition of the team, Smith said, “The middle order has probably been where we have had a bit of an issue. Davey has been exceptional in one-day cricket opening for the past few years, Finchy (Aaron Finch) played well in the last series in India. The middle order is a key area for us to focus on.”
“We need runs out of that area, and wickets in hand to have an onslaught at the back end of the game,” he added. “That’s something we haven’t done, and something we need to work on,” he further added.
Meanwhile, a lot of talks has gone on between the selection of Glenn Maxwell and Smith’s comments surrounding his training methods. Reflecting on it, the Aussie captain said, “That’s between me and Glenn. It was good to catch up, I get on really well with Glenn,” he said. “That’s a big reason (Maxwell’s subpar international form) why he is not here at the moment… we need those runs in the middle and it’s crucial that we find them.”