Exclusive interview David Warner on his bad-boy image and living the Ashes dream

David Warner tells Nick Hoult how becoming a family man and cutting down on the booze means he is no longer the bad boy of Australian cricket

‘I am playing the best cricket of my life due to the fact my life is complete on and off the field’

‘Sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask, is one OK for me? Does two affect me? Is two too many?”

David Warner is talking about alcohol and the damage it can cause. He does not want to preach to Ben Stokes, so the Aussies may have to rethink his new nickname of the Reverend, but he has some advice about how to tame the inner beast which can threaten to wreck a sporting career.

“You have to be honest to yourself,” he says. “Each individual is different. There are plenty of things on the park you can’t control but one thing you can control off it is what you do. But you have to be honest with yourself first.”

Warner is about to play in an Ashes series which, in his own words, is “living the dream – an amazing feeling”. Stokes, on the other hand, is at home and must be hurting badly at the thought of not playing in Australia this winter.

Warner and Stokes have much in common. Both are warriors on the field and at the top of their game. Both are team men, competitors who sometimes go too far. Both are leaders and defenders of more timid members of their side. Warner proved that by successfully taking the fight to Cricket Australia over pay (“I will always stand up for anyone who is on my side,” he says). Stokes is first to wade in if he senses a bully circling a team-mate. Both can be wild off the field but are popular with team-mates.

Warner had his own brush with violence and alcohol in England when he punched Joe Root in a Birmingham bar four years ago. There was no police involvement but it leaked and Warner was banned and relegated from an Ashes tour to an A team series in Zimbabwe. He missed the first two Ashes Tests of the 2013 series.

Since then he has changed. Now married and a father (he was voted Australia’s Dad of the Year in 2016), he has watched the video of Stokes fighting in a Bristol street and knows it could have been him. “I have learned from my mistakes. If you put yourself in situations where you are out after midnight and have alcohol in your system … you don’t want to put yourself in that situation. I have been there before and it is not a pretty place to be,” he says.

“I had things going on that I won’t talk about in my own background. I had stuff going on in my life that was inexcusable. But I’ve settled down, had a family. And my wife [Candice Falzon, a professional triathlete] has been my inspiration in what she does for a living. I could not be happier with where I am. Settling down and having a family is the greatest thing that has happened to me. I am playing the best cricket of my life due to the fact my life is complete on and off the field. That is where I am now. I can’t offer that advice to anyone else. It is just what worked for me.”

Warner says he has only the odd drink now, and initially gave up alcohol altogether. He also uses a mind coach, John Novak – who has worked extensively with golfers and rugby league players, as well as Falzon – to help channel his aggression into positive thoughts.

“It gave me something to work on. It was not just alcohol stuff. It was about getting older and giving myself the best opportunity to stay on the park. Having two young kids with a hangover is hard. I know what a hangover was like when I didn’t have kids so having two kids and a hangover is quite a challenge. I will have the odd one here and there but I do not put myself in the situation any more where I am not being able to remember the night before, that is for sure.”

Alcohol and cricket are intertwined in Australia and England. The bars at cricket grounds in Australia serve weakened beer to try to stop fans getting too drunk, but any England player who has fielded on the boundary in an Ashes Test will tell you it makes little difference. Root has denied there is a drinking culture in the England team and he is right. They are dedicated professionals, and Stokes trains harder than anyone. But, as Warner explains, playing cricket and having a beer go together like a bat and ball.

“In the inner sanctum of cricket, it is almost like it is ingrained in you that you come off the field and have a beer,” he says. “It is not just sport. It is culture. In England and Australia, people talk about what you do on a hot summer’s day: you have a beer. I think that is just the culture of our countries. I don’t think there is a big booze culture in cricket. People enjoy a nice cold beer after a day’s play but people do that after a hard day’s work.”

Falzon was amazed when she found out how much cricketers drank, and her husband – now, at 31, a senior pro – learned from her.

“She gave me structure in my life. I have worked hard at being the best person I can be by training my backside off and everything fell into place. My cricket started getting better and more consistent. My lifestyle away from the field changed significantly and that was me doing that and sticking to it.”

The question remains, of course. Will the Ashes bring out the Aussie “mongrel” in Warner or will it be dog collar and politeness from the Rev?

“You will see the same person you have seen before,” he answers.

‘You have to go hard at the No 1 man, especially if he is captain. You have to pressure them’

“I will be out there giving my all. If I need to get out there and have some verbal banter, then I will be on it.” In the last Ashes series in Australia – a 5-0 thumping for England – that was memorably encapsulated by Michael Clarke telling James Anderson he would soon be nursing a “broken f-----arm”. Warner does not rule out a repeat incident.

“The Ashes always brings out the best in everyone. It [the Clarke-anderson incident] was amazing to watch. It was disappointing the stump mic caught it all but it was then a pumping series, everyone got up for it and it started a fiery encounter. If it takes something like that again, then why not?”

That said, Warner is respectful. He acknowledges the talents of Root and dismisses the notion of a bouncer war, admitting it is all mind games. “I think Joe is an exceptional player. I think Australian conditions will suit his back-foot play. The wickets are true and bouncy and the way he plays through the off side is fantastic. He has worked a lot on his strengths over the past few years and has improved a lot since the last time he came out here.

“I think when anyone comes to Australia, they automatically think they are going to get bombarded with bouncers. In Australia, it is quite simple. It is line and length that wins games. You drive on the up and that is the risk. You are always going to get true bounce in Australia. It is a bit misconceived the idea that it will be about short balls to push you back. If you are a good enough player, you know what tactics teams will have and be able to deal with them.”

But the compliments about Root go only so far. Australian “decapitation”, taking down the opposing captain, will be the tactic from the moment the sides step out on to the field at the Gabba in 19 days’ time.

“You have to go hard at the No1 man, especially if he is captain, and you have to apply pressure to them because they are out there trying to make decisions. If things are not going their way, it is good to get on top of them. On the flip side, when everything is going right for them everyone gets together and pounces on us, so it is about picking your times and being smart with how you approach that.”