Warner wary of pacey England duo as Australia gear up for early Ashes clash at T20 World Cup

Ashes arrived early, this time at the 2024 T20 World Cup in the Americas, as Australia and England gear up for the marquee clash in Barbados on Saturday (June 8). Veteran Aussie batter David Warner is aware of the threat the defending champions pose, with their pacey duo of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood set to headline this Group B tie; however, upon asking how he plans to tackle them, Warner said he just needs to put bat to ball.

Australia and England will face off for the first time since last year’s Ashes in the UK, with Archer returning to the big stage after a long gap. Wood’s presence in the XI will boost England’s chances against their old foes, but Warner feels that in relatively foreign conditions, where the balls won’t come as quickly as expected, the Aussies can take on this challenge up front.

"You just have to use their pace," Warner said of facing Archer and Wood.

"Test cricket they set different fields, different balls. In Twenty20 cricket, you only have to get half an edge on it, and it can go. So there's a fair difference."

"I've played a lot of cricket over here. You are expecting it to be low rather than bounce unless it is real short. The variation in bounce is what surprises you. Because when they pitch the ball that eight-metre [from the stumps] length, your natural instinct is to pull it. But you have to go back to targeting straight, backing yourself, and if it does bounce, so be it,” the opener continued.

Warner answers critics

Warner faced flak for his lean patch during the IPL 2024 but says it doesn’t affect him anymore, adding he fails to understand why there is talk about just one player when cricket is a team sport, with 11 players completing a team.

"It [the criticism] doesn't fuel me. It's in one ear, out the other," Warner said.

"I don't understand why it's all about myself. There are 11 players in the team. I don't get it. People feel like they have to keep criticising the way I play. I don't know what it is. I have no answer as to why people write that. I have had it my whole career. I don't listen to it,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Warner scored a fifty against Oman in the side’s tournament opener.

(With inputs from agencies)