Warner fires Ashes jibe at England’s Root

If Joe Root and England are to succeed in Australia this winter, David Warner claims Joe Root will need to “take the surfboard off his front leg.”

Warner, 38, is visiting England for a month while working with London Spirit in The Hundred, and he couldn’t resist making a gentle dig at former Ashes rivals.

In the late November Ashes, England will attempt to recapture the urn for the first time in ten years against Australia.

Joe Root, an England batter, has yet to record a 100 in Australia, is the big anchor, according to Warner, who is on BBC Sport.

Josh Hazlewood “has his number frequently on hand quite a lot,” he says. He will need to remove his front leg’s surfboard.

Warner, who retired from international cricket last year, will make his Hundred debut on Tuesday against the Oval Invincibles.

On August 14th, he could face Root’s Trent Rockets at Lord’s.

Root has never scored a century in Australia, making him the top Test batter in the world and essential to England’s chances of winning the Ashes.

He has been dismissed by Australia’s seamer Hazlewood ten times in 18 Tests, fewer than the 11 times that Australia’s captain Pat Cummins and India’s bowler Jasprit Bumrah have done it.

Warner asserted that “it all depends on the bowlers.”

“They will enter the game if the English bowlers can change the top order in Australia.”

In The Hundred this year, veteran bowler James Anderson could face off against Warner. The Spirit play Anderson on August 11th, with Anderson having been chosen lately by the Manchester Originals.

When asked about the possibility of facing England’s record-takers once more, Warner responded, “They are 2025 white cricket balls, not 2018 red Dukes.”

It will be a little different, they say.

England requested the 2018 batch of Dukes balls because they anticipated Anderson’s and the hosts’ other seamers’ anticipated more movement from them during the 2019 Ashes.

Warner hasn’t forgotten that Anderson suffered an injury four overs into the series, which ended up being tied at 2-2.

He “probably won’t be able to seam it around corners like they normally do,” warned Warner.

Warner will make his first appearance on English soil since the Ashes’ final day in 2023 when he plays on Tuesday.

Despite his troubled history with the English-supporting public, Warner was applauded off by the crowd at The Oval that day before the ball changes, bail swaps, and Stuart Broad’s finale.

That touched me, Warner said.

The supporters of cricket in England, who adore the game, are credited with doing so.

“We have always had our challenges and battles as individuals, but what English supporters do is respect players who have played for a long time. That was very significant.

The Spirit won the tournament’s other three seasons by placing seventh or eighth, but they did so in 2022.

In a rematch this year, Warner will play for another Australian, Justin Langer, the former opener who took Trevor Bayliss’ place as coach.

“I am aware that Spirit hasn’t performed as well over the past few years,” Warner said.

“It would be awesome for me to project some intensity and energy into the group.”

It’s about the fans and the young people who are coming out to see us, not the player or whether there’s been a little history.