David Warner: “Come day one when we walk out there, there will definitely be some words exchanged here and there”
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Australia opener David Warner has said that the national team must find “some sort of hatred” for England if they want to win the Ashes, which begins in Brisbane next month.
Warner has never shied away from launching a verbal assault as during the 2013/14 Ashes, he said that England had “scared eyes” when they were facing left-arm seamer Mitchell Johnson.
Johnson played an instrumental role in leading Australia to a 5-0 win in that series as he took 37 wickets at an average of 13.97.
With the 2017/18 Ashes fast approaching, Warner made it clear that Australia will once again adopt a hostile approach.
“When you talk about four years ago, in that first Test I made some statements in the media,” Warner told Jim Maxwell on ABC Grandstand. “I thought it was a great thing to come out speak what I thought, and I have no regrets about that. I think that could have played a little role in the back of their minds.
“At the moment, I’m not going to put any vibes out there or get into a verbal stoush in the media, but come day one when we walk out there, there will definitely be some words exchanged here and there.”
Warner has become much more mature since the 2013/14 Ashes, so much so that his nickname of ‘Bull’ has now been changed to ‘Reverend’.
However, while he has taken his on-field aggression down a couple of notches, the 30-year-old conceded that it may start creeping back up during the Ashes.
“The history, the pride that is at stake. As soon as you step on that line it’s war,” he said. “You try and get into a battle as quick as you can. I try and look in the opposition’s eye and work out how can I dislike this player, how can I get on top of him.
“You’ve got to find that spark in yourself to really take it to the opposition. You have to delve and dig deep into yourself to get some sort of hatred about them.
“The subtle approach these days is how it goes. Look at the Indian series we played, it can get under your skin quite quickly, and the heat gets to everyone, so we just have to wait and see. ”
It remains to be seen how much of an impact Australia’s pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will have in the Ashes, but Warner believes that Cummins will be the player to watch out for as he has been in red-hot form as of late.
“I can tell you now I’m very scared when it comes to the nets so hopefully they (England) are scared because it is challenging facing our guys,” he said. “I think he (Cummins) will play a big role in this Ashes. To play back-to-back games after a long period off, it’s a credit to him, he’s really toiled hard.
“He’s really, really pumped for this series and to play on his home soil. He’s really excited and hopefully the adrenalin kicks in for him and he can fire big time.”