Australia coach warns that Warner is as hungry for runs as ever

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Cricket365
August 31, 2020

Australia assistant coach Trent Woodhill has warned that David Warner is as hungry for runs as ever.

Woodhill has worked with the belligerent Australia opener for more than a decade and says that the left-hander is chomping at the bit to get stuck into England.

“Mentally he’s a strong as ever and as bullish – pardon the pun – as ever,” Woodhill said.

“I haven’t been given any indication he’s not hungry for more runs across all formats.”

Warner in a good place

Woodhill has been impressed by Warner’s ability to bounce back from a disappointing Ashes series and believes Australia can look forward to a mountain of runs from the 33-year-old.

“I was so proud of him with the 300 in Adelaide just because of that bouncing back from adversity,” he said.

“David worked really hard after the Ashes to regroup, and he came back firing.

“Watching him back the other day in the trial match he’s in a really good place with his cricket.”

No shortcuts for Australia opener

Woodhill lauded Warner’s work-ethic in training, insisting this is the bedrock of his success and will ensure he remains at the top for a long time.

“I think when players reach [their] early 30s their game is about being consistent and the challenge is not shortcutting preparation and if you watch David train, whether it’s from a skill set or physical standpoint, he doesn’t take any shortcuts,” he said.

“That’s probably the most pleasing thing for me being around this Australian space is just how athletic these players are and do the hard yards and don’t look for shortcuts.

“So world-class players like Finch, Warner, (Steve) Smith, (Mitch) Starc, (Josh) Hazlewood, (Pat) Cummins, they do everything they can to give themselves the best chance of succeeding and that’s been really refreshing to see that and just how scary how good these athletes are.”

Warner won his third Allan Border Medal at the Australian Cricket Awards earlier this year, recovering from a horror Ashes to enjoy a fruitful home summer that included a triple century.

Australia face England in three T20Is from 4-8 September followed by three ODIs.