Root tells Warner to expect hostile reception
Joe Root believes David Warner will need to be thickskinned enough to deal with “a slightly hostile environment” if he features in next year’s Ashes.
Warner is currently serving a one-year ban from state and international cricket following his role in the sandpaper scandal in South Africa, but hit the headlines again while playing grade cricket in Sydney over the weekend.
He left the field mid-innings after being sledged by Jason Hughes - brother of Warner’s former Australia team-mate Phil, who died in 2014 after being struck by a bouncer.
Warner is understood to have found certain comments personal and hurtful, but returned to continue his innings and went on to make a century.
The 32-year-old’s ban ends in time for him to restart his international career in England in 2019, if selected, and a hot atmosphere would almost certainly greet him.
“I’m sure he will have to accustom himself to what might be a slightly hostile environment from the English public, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens when he comes over in the summer, if he does,” said Root.
“I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone, but time will tell as to what happens in the future.”
Root has his own history with Warner, having been punched by the Victorian in a Birmingham bar during the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Asked if he had ever felt the need to leave the field of play due to verbal abuse, Root said: “No, I haven’t.
“You don’t know what was said and you don’t know what was involved and what happened out there.
“It is something you don’t see very often, but unless you know exactly what went on out there you can’t say if it was a justified thing or not.”