Warner relieves Kiwi D’Arcy of ‘record’
A horror Ashes series with the bat has seen Australian opener David Warner nudge a little-known New Zealand batsman out of an unwanted cricketing record.
Warner’s series ended in familiar fashion when he was dismissed for 11 by England fast bowler Stuart Broad as the hosts won the fifth test by 135 runs at The Oval.
It left Warner’s series tally at 95 runs at an average of 9.5, now the lowest of any opener to have played at least 10 innings in one test series.
The previous record holder was New Zealand’s John D’Arcy, who played his only five tests on the 1958 tour of England.
D’Arcy’s 10 innings in that series reaped 136 runs at 13.6.
Indian pair Anshuman Gaekwad (11 innings, average 15.81 against West Indies in 1983) and Pananmal Punjabi
(10 innings, average 16.4 against Pakistan in 1955) are next lowest on that all-time openers’ list.
Warner’s series scores were 2 and 8 at Edgbaston,
3 and 5 at Lord’s, 61 and 0 at Headingley,
0 and 0 at Old Trafford and 5 and 11 at The Oval.
His career average is now 45.47 from
79 tests, with 21 centuries to his name. Broad snared Warner’s wicket seven times in the series, a feat achieved by just five other bowlers – three of them in Ashes series.
Spinner Nathan Lyon did it most recently, claiming Moeen Ali’s wicket seven times in the last Ashes in 2017-18.
Australia’s Glenn McGrath removed Michael Atherton seven times in the 1997 Ashes and Geoff Lawson did the same to David Gower eight years earlier.
Steve Smith, meanwhile, completed a remarkable return to test cricket after he, Warner and Cameron Bancroft were banned for their roles in the South Africa ball tampering scandal.
In Smith’s seven innings – having missed one match due to concussion – he scored 774 runs at 110.57 as Australia retained the prized urn with a 2-2 series scoreline.
It wasn’t his best Ashes series average, either. In 2017-18 at home, Smith plundered 687 runs at 137.4 before that fateful South African tour.
Smith’s career numbers are now a mind-boggling 6973 runs from 68 tests at an average of 64.56.