David Warner - the Cricketer with Rizz

At the end of 2023, Oxford University Press announced the winner of the public ballot on the Word of the Year, and it was ‘rizz’. Obviously, I had never heard of it. I am 62 and apparently it is short for ‘charisma’ which is too long for anyone under 25 to type on their mobiles. 

So who has rizz? Well, David Warner, for starters. I would suggest that few modern-day sportsmen and women possess an abundance of rizz. Most footballers, tennis players, cricketers and so on seem to be schooled in being as boring as possible. Anything else is deemed ‘unprofessional’. Well, I love seeing a sports professional with a smile on his or her face; it proves they are human with a personality, perhaps human frailties, just like the rest of us.

Maybe that’s why I quite like David Warner. He may be a pantomime villain in the eyes of the English fans and media but he is always watchable. Don’t get me wrong; his cheating at Newlands was disgraceful. However, England can hardly sit comfortably on the moral high ground given the past behaviour of Hussain, Atherton, Pietersen, Stokes et al, although I admit the latter two did also have plenty of rizz! 

This week saw Warner’s retirement from Test cricket, bowing out at his Sydney home ground with a half-century and an Australian 3-0 series victory against Pakistan. Only Cook, Gavaskar and Graeme Smith scored more runs as openers, while 8,786 runs at almost 45 is world-class in anyone’s book. 

It is strange to recall that first-class cricket wasn’t to his liking at all. I first saw him play at Lord’s in June 2010, thanks to my friend Dipesh, then a Middlesex Member, acquiring a ticket to see the county’s T20 clash with Essex. The great Adam Gilchrist was then Middlesex captain for the Blast but I had heard of this exciting young gun from New South Wales, if only because he was renowned for representing Australia in ODIs and T20 internationals without playing a single first-class match. Not one! 

By 2010, he had played a handful in the Sheffield Shield, his debut coming the previous year, batting at six. He made a 48-ball 42 while at the other end, a certain Usman Khawaja compiled a steadier 172 not out. A teenage Mitchell Starc also featured in that drawn fixture, and the two also accompanied Warner in his final Test, and presumably first-class fixture. As for that Friends Provident tie at Lord’s. the pink-clad future legend biffed 25 in 15 balls, although the innings was overshadowed by the opposition’s Ryan Ten Doeschate’s superlative century. 

It was to be another eighteen months before he accepted the call to wear the ‘baggy green’ against New Zealand. He stroked three boundaries in four deliveries to clinch victory, again batting with Khawaja. It was a match boasting a phenomenal line-up of Noughties cricket stars on both sides, including Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Vettori, Taylor and Brendan McCullum. I think it’s fair to say that David Warner brought ‘Bazball’ to the Test scene long before McCullum the coach did so with England. His cavalier approach to batting didn’t always pay off. Stuart Broad, for one, seemed to have his measure, goading him into rash hooks or pulls. 

In the recent World Cup, Warner again contributed to a triumphant Aussie campaign. He top-scored for his country, yet was eclipsed by two awesome innings by Glen Maxwell and Travis Head. In addition to his runs, there was no ignoring Dave’s energetic scampering around the outfield with an enthusiasm belying his 37 years. He hasn’t quit all cricket, of course. I daresay in future T20 franchises we’ll witness plenty more belligerent batting, attempted run-outs, rueful smiles – washed down with lashings of rizz. 

Stunning start to the 2023 Ashes!

I must confess that all Bazball hype had left this Test cricket fan rather subdues and less than enthusiastic about the home Ashes series. For starters, I cringe at the way so many so-called England fans believe that cricket revolves solely around the occasional battles with Australia and possibly a World Cup so long as the nation is winning. I cling desperately to the association of TV cricket with the ‘Soul Limbo’ tune and am old-fashioned enough to detest the shift to drunken football-style crowds. 

And yet if Test cricket is to survive the flood of Twenty20 and Hundred, who am I to complain about any connection felt between young English blokes and the traditional summer sport (at least, while the footie season is in abeyance)? Whether it’s the cider bar at Taunton or the Hollies Stand at Edgbaston, if people are enjoying themselves and perhaps enjoying some cricket then it must be a good thing. I only hope that that those who attended the First Test, especially on the final day, appreciated what was happening on the pitch because it was quite extraordinary. 

I confess I rarely watch the game on TV these days, with little inclination to sacrifice whole weeks to Sky’s coverage. Thanks, BBC, for your website coverage and evening highlights show. There were certainly plenty of highlights on offer this week. 

It was billed as the clash between Bazball and the old-fashioned Aussies. How things have changed! The tourists were crowned world Test champions only the other week so Ben Stokes was unlikely to have everything his own way. 

On Friday morning, he did. From Zak Crawley’s courageous crunching cover drive from Pat Cummins’ opening half-volley to the bravado of Brooks and Bairstow and another imperious century from Joe Root, England were stroking their way to a total well into the 400s. Then the skipper declared on 393-8 to leave Broad and Robinson a few overs hopefully to dismiss Usman Khawaja and perennial cartoon villain David Warner. 

Tipping convention on its head has been a hallmark in England’s astonishing transformation last year. This decision, along with some novel field placings, were well to the fore at Edgbaston but the declaration was unsuccessful in its prime aim. Nonetheless, it served as an appetiser for some superb Test cricket over the next four days. Broad got Warner (of course he did!) and Labuschagne, then Stokes pinned the other hate figure, Steve Smith, for 16 but Khawaja played an excellent restrained innings lasting eight hours. Head and Carey were bolder, and Cummins joined in with the six-hits off poor Moeen Ali, whose raw spinning finger must have been awfully painful. 

With a slender lead of seven, England sallied forth to set the Aussies a tough target and unleash a pumped-up Broad, Anderson and Robinson. This time, Cummins and Nathan Lyon never allowed the batsmen the same freedom and nobody passed fifty. Alex Carey took another three catches and added a third stumping, illustrating England’s penchant for taking risks to the spinner. They scored at ‘only’ four an over but were all out for 273. So to a dramatic climax full of twists and turns. 

The raucous crowd must have helped England’s bowlers and put the fear of God into the Aussies. At 143-5 and four dismissals to Bairstow’s name, all looked rosy for Stokes and co. But that man Khawaja was still there. When Green played on, Robinson looked set to explode, and even Stokes looked quite calm when his ultra-slow delivery fooled the Aussie opener. 209-7, 82 short. A fabulous caught-and-bowled by Joe Root ended Carey’s resistance and surely the tailenders wouldn’t survive the pressure and score the required 54 to win? 

Statistics were against them. During the morning rain delay, commentators were keen to remind us that Australia always lose tight matches. Not since a young debutant Cummins struck the winning runs to beat South Africa by two wickets in 2011 had they edges such a close finish, but against all odds he repeated the feat. Khawaja also played in that match in Johannesburg, and his second innings score of 65 was identical to his corresponding total at Edgbaston. Statistics, eh? 

I wouldn’t begrudge the Aussies their victory. Stokes seemed to take the defeat stoically but in good heart. England came oh-so-close, four Tests to come, blah-blah-blah. I think another England victory could have killed the series as a sporting spectacle. Now we have something really special to look forward to. Test cricket is back, folks!