Australian opener desperate for Ashes glory against England.
David Warner admits he must regain the respect of the cricketing public and his teammates as he attempts to make amends for a slew of off-field incidents in the past year.
From a Twitter battle with two Australian cricket journalists to a punch-up with England batsman Joe Root, Warner’s image away from the pitch has taken a battering.
However, the nuggety left-hander has again reminded the Australian selectors, and perhaps most importantly the England side, of how dangerous he can be, after blasting four centuries in the past 24 days – including 104 from 87 balls against Victoria on Thursday.
The 27-year-old said he now realises his place in the Australian side is not certain and said, if given a second chance, would not take it for granted.
“A lot of things went on in England and people don’t know the full story. But the bottom line is I stuffed up. I don’t think you should regret anything you do in life, because then you don’t come out the other side the way you are,” Warner said.
“But I’ve learned a lesson from that. I do read papers. I have heard people say things about me. I am better for my mistakes.
“Now it is about coming back to Australia and winning games for Australia. If selected in the first Ashes Test, I’ll take my form into that and score as many runs as I can for the team.
“I have to work as hard as I can to get the respect back from not just the public, but my teammates and my family.
“I let all those people down. Now it is about shutting up, putting my backside down, staying squeaky clean and scoring runs.”
And as for the now infamous incident with Root at the Walkabout pub, Warner said he holds no grudges towards the English batsman.
“I haven’t really spoken to him, but I laugh at it now,” he says of their stoush.
“There’s no issue with me. It’s disappointing that it got out into the media, I don’t know if the English leaked it, but that’s in the past and I wish Joe Root all the best for the Ashes. I never wanted to let anyone down with that but it happened, it was silly, but I’m only human. Now I’m back scoring runs and that’s the main thing.”
As for the upcoming series against England, starting on November 21 at the Gabba in Brisbane, Warner said regaining the Ashes is a major career goal for him, and he stop at nothing to help the current Australian side end their run of outs in the Test arena.
“If we bat and bowl well in Australia, we will be too good for them,” he said.
“I want to win more Test matches for Australia.
“I remember as a kid seeing the great decade where we won 16 Tests in a row, winning a series in India, winning Ashes home and away, you always want to be a part of those big moments.
“As a kid I dreamed of playing an Ashes at home, I will be doing everything I can to win that urn.
“I want to tick that box.”
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