Busy, eventful and more difficult than it appeared. It was only right that David Warner’s 2017 finished as it has been throughout. It was a year bookended with tons that showed version 2.0 of the Australian vice-captain, the latter of which ticked off both the England team and another statistical milestone.
When reflecting on the century in a session he made during his first hit of this year Warner said the secret was that he had finally learned how to “caress the ball” to complete his game. Hardly words that sat alongside the Bull of old, defined by going hard, big and brutal. But just as it was in Sydney in January, on Boxing Day he was all things touchy‑feely. With bat in hand, at least.
It is this exercise in contrasts that makes him so fascinating as a player and an individual. He bounces around so quickly it can be hard to keep up. The Reverend, fuelled by meditation and peace, or the guy ranting about hatred and war.
His first two drives on the first day here gave an early hint this was going to be Warner at his most serene. They were barely more than defensive pushes, Tendulkar-like. He continued much the same through the opening session, speeding through the 70s like Keith Richards but with far less risk. Sure, before lunch he lifted Moeen Ali over his head and the rope, but it was executed with maximum control.
After the break Warner leant into yet another faultless straight drive. So much for the player who started his career as a carnival act, wheeled out for an international T20 before he had played a single first-class game – 21 Test centuries later, surely that can all be put to rest.
Predictably the critics were vocal as he ticked along. It was a flat, compliant track against a broken attack in a dead rubber, they said. Funny, then, that that was not the reality for anyone else. Take Steve Smith, in the form of his life, who had to channel his slowest ton in Brisbane rather than his fastest in Perth.
Before the memorable completion of Warner’s 100th run – stifled, beaten, then recalled, as the sight of a no-ball on the screen made the MCG erupt like it usually does for a football game – he raised 6,000 in Test cricket in fewer innings than all but three Australians – a handy trio named Bradman, Ponting and Hayden.
Warner explained that reaching three figures was a mixture of relief after his reprieve and achievement at finally ticking a box on his boyhood to-do list on the biggest stage in Australian cricket the day after Christmas. Especially after missing out in Perth.
“Awesome,” he told ABC radio of the moment he tucked the Tom Curran delivery into the leg side to ensure he would get to launch into his lavish century celebration for the first time this summer. “It is one of those things, when you are growing up, you really want a Boxing Day ton.”
What a significant journey the opener has made across 70 Tests, one that got knottier this year as a player and a talker. “For me it has been a little bit up and down with form,” he said. “It is one of those years where you think you can put a tick.”
After that imperious hand in Sydney an abysmal tour of India followed, then a bumper Indian Premier League. He spent the winter taking the role as a union shop steward during the pay dispute with Cricket Australia. For his troubles one newspaper took a whack at the car he drives.
But his tour of Bangladesh was less Lamborghini than family sedan, grinding out a pair of centuries he described as his most rewarding yet. “Aggressive defence” was the method he employed to finally crack the subcontinental code after four barren years.
In this Ashes, the narrative is that he has not done a lot. But that ignored the street smarts he applied in Brisbane when dragging the Test into a fifth day to cause maximum grief for England’s fast bowlers.
Likewise, his scratchy 47 on the opening day in Adelaide was significant. It takes a quality operator to contribute on a bad day.
Truth told, it will never be a straightforward story with Warner – his abrasive personality ensures that will be so. But viewed as a batsman in isolation he is on track to become an all-time great of the craft. A 2018 resembling the year about to close will only bring that closer.
