Langer backs Warner to fire

CRICKET DAVID Warner will open the batting when the Australian Test summer begins against Pakistan in November.

But coach Justin Langer admitted the Ashes failures of other batsmen had opened the door for anyone who could bang it down with runs when the Sheffield Shield season starts.

Warner finished the Ashes with just 95 runs, the worst ever return of any opener in a five-Test series, and three ducks among eight single figure scores.

Langer backed the misfiring opener to re-find his best at home after conceding that English seamer Stuart Broad, who dismissed Warner seven times, had “got into his head”.

But a combined 102 runs from openers Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft, only one 50 from Travis Head and none from Usman Khawaja posed other problems for the coach.

He conceded the lack of batting output was the difference between winning the series and drawing it, as Australia did, and said spots in the Test team were up for grabs.

“Yeah definitely, Langer said. “I thought our bowling throughout this series was absolutely world-class. But we didn’t bat well enough.

“I said this at the start of the series – that the team that bats well will win the series. I said it consistently enough and we didn’t bat well enough. That’s the truth.

“I mean, Steve Smith was obviously outstanding. I thought the development of Marnus (Labuschagne) was exciting.

“The way Matthew Wade scored two centuries in this series … two Test centuries in an Ashes series showed great fight and great skill.

“But we certainly fell short in other areas and we need to work on that.”

Langer and the players are due a break after up to three months in England for most, more for those who were part of the World Cup squad which left Australia in May.

But after that, there are four rounds of the Sheffield Shield season before the first Test in Brisbane, which could determine the make-up of the batting order.

Warner will remain at the top, with the support of Langer, who is also a selector and remains “hopeful” that his Ashes flop was a one-off.

“He had an IPL where he was the leading run scorer, he had the World Cup where he was the leading run scorer but I think, talking frankly, he let Stuart Broad get into his head and he thought way too much about it,” Langer said.

“I’ve learned over a long period you never write off champion players – it doesn’t matter what sport – you never write off champion players. They tend to come good, don’t they?

“So he’s had a tough series … it didn’t go to plan, but he’s seen how successful he’s been and the impact he can have on Australian cricket teams winning so I’m confident he’ll come good. Actually I’m hopeful he comes good.”

WE CUT TO THE CHASE, I THOUGHT OUR BOWLING THROUGHOUT THIS SERIES WAS ABSOLUTELY WORLD-CLASS. BUT WE DIDN’T BAT WELL ENOUGH.

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