Australian opening batter David Warner reacted to former England captain Michael Vaughan's recent statement where he claimed that he heard whispers about Warner and Steve Smith retiring from Test cricket after the last Ashes Test at The Oval. Warner quashed all the rumours and called the whispers a 'joke' before confirming that the series against Pakistan at home later in the year would be his last hurrah in red-ball cricket.
"I've been on the golf course. No, I don't have an announcement," Warner told reporters.
"Johnny Farnham had one last tour and kept going so, who knows, I might have to keep you guessing. I won't be playing any further Test cricket after Pakistan. You have my word," Warner clarified.
Warner was underfire entering the Ashes series as runs had dried up from his willow in Test cricket. After Australia won the first two Ashes Tests, the pressure eased on Warner as he also played a couple of good knocks. The southpaw failed to perform in the following two Tests in Headingley and Manchester, and thus, there has been a major outcry from former Aussie cricketers and fans to drop Warner from the playing XI.
The left-handed batter has accumulated 201 runs in eight innings in the ongoing series against the Three Lions, including one half-century. Warner believes that he has performed much better than his last outing in England in 2019 when he couldn't buy a run to save his life.
"I've probably left a few out there but in saying that, I've played a lot better than what I did last time," said Warner.
"I've had a couple of unlucky dismissals and then dismissals where I've tried to negate the swing or the seam and it's caught the outside edge of the bat.
"I feel like I'm in a good space, contributed well, and as a batting unit we're all about partnerships, and I think the partnerships that we've had in key moments of this series have actually worked very well for us as a team," he added.
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