Warner defies Gannon fire

DAVID Warner will look to capitalise after surviving on a day where the lesser-knowns — and not the Test stars — took centre stage in Queensland’s Sheffield Shield opener against NSW at the Gabba.

Bulls trio Usman Khawaja (1), Joe Burns (13) and Matthew Renshaw (19) all failed to mount a case for selection in the first Test at the same venue next month.

The unexpected final chapter came when Steve Smith was dismissed for a duck by Cameron Gannon, whose most recent firstclass cricket came for the United States in a T20 international against Bermuda.

The Blues finished on 3-50, with Warner unbeaten on 27, in pursuit of Queensland’s 153 after Harry Conway (5-17 from 13 overs) slowly strangled the hosts with the help of Sean Abbott and Trent Copeland.

Smith slashed loosely at a Gannon (3-17) delivery, with Burns pouching the catch to hand the former Test skipper a first-class duck for the first time in 54 innings and nearly three years.

His sudden exit wasn’t in the script after a dominant Ashes series, in which Smith amassed 774 runs at an average of 110.57 against the English.

Gannon, whose mother is American, then had Moises Henriques edging again to Burns and later admitted the “weird” stint with the American team had energised him in a career stunted by a 2013 ban for an illegal action.

“It really kind of refreshed me a bit ... it’s the most fun I’ve had playing cricket in a long time, I’m really happy and hopefully that shows,” he said. “It was really weird though, standing behind another nation’s flag.”