Plucky Warner revels despite England's 'negative tactics'

Warner had a reprieve on 99 as Curran bowled a no-ball. © Getty

From the moment Australian captain Steve Smith won the toss on a jarringly flat MCG pitch, it felt inevitable David Warner was going to end his frustrating Ashes series. The explosive left-handed opener played within himself over the opening three Tests in a determined bid to maturely lead by example.

For such a gunslinger, it had been jarring seeing Warner subdued and kept in check by an England team intent on keeping the shackles on Australia's batting enforcer. Warner's restrained approach resulted in middling outputs but it hardly mattered as a Steve Smith-inspired batting order helped Australia grab an unassailable 3-0 series lead. Australia's batting had for so long been reliant on a one-two punch from Smith and Warner but the vice-captain had been completely overshadowed by his incomparable skipper.

Despite the Ashes glory, Warner was disappointed with his sub-par performances and determined to finally stamp himself on the contest with trademark aggression - safely armed with the knowledge that the Ashes has been decided.

Things were going to script on day one when Warner effortlessly cruised to an unbeaten 83 at lunch to dominate an opening stand of 102 with struggling partner Cameron Bancroft. Warner started his innings aggressively but didn't over hit before settling in. With almost no movement off the pitch, Warner confidently stroked the ball around without exerting himself and feasted on a lifeless England attack.

A straight six off spinner Moeen Ali in the last over before lunch underlined his assertiveness and hinted at something special after the long break. After lunch, England captain Joe Root reverted to stymying the bleeding and enforced a defensive strategy in a bid to frustrate Warner.

The tactics, which included bowling wide sucker balls and a packed off-side-field, halted the freewheeling Warner, who spent 40 minutes in the nineties. Impatience got the better of Warner on 99 as he fell for the bait and miscued a short Tom Curran delivery straight to mid-on. A visibly disappointed Warner punched his bat in frustration knowing he had let slip of a golden opportunity to realise a childhood dream of scoring a ton on Boxing Day.

"Your instinct takes over there and I sort of wasn't committed to the shot," Warner told reporters on Tuesday (December 26). "Me and Ussie (Khawaja) were talking about it, pulling and cutting on that wicket at that stage. You just get frustrated because it was a poor decision. It was one of those ones that was a half-hearted shot, and you don't deserve to stay in if you play a shot like that."

Fortunately for Warner, the debutant had overstepped and he immediately capitalised with the necessary single to bring up his first century of the series and 21st of his Test career. His prolonged celebration was even more exuberant than normal with Warner leaping into the air like an Olympian high jumper knowing he had dodged egg on face.

"As a batter, you always get edgy and when you miss out you want to cash in as soon as possible," Warner said. "Growing up, you always want a Boxing Day ton It eluded me for a while until last year (against Pakistan), and then I knew once I got in I really had to try to knuckle down and dig in.

"The way that they bowled was obviously a bit negative outside off stump, trying to get me driving," he added. "They were obviously too wide and I couldn't play at anything. I had to be patient, and I knew my time would come."

Warner dominated a 122-run opening stand with Bancroft, who contributed a scratchy 95-ball 26. The vice-captain backed the under pressure West Australian. "He is still learning. He has a great technique," Warner said of Bancroft. "It's hard to score frequently and at a good rate at this level. He felt like he was seeing it well and he felt like the ball was sticking in the wicket. I think he's a quality player and we will see the best of him hopefully in the next innings."

Insults have flown during the acrimonious series and Warner found himself in a war of words after his lifeline but said he had to retort to sledging from the England players.

"I didn't let it go... obviously I had to bite back as I normally do," he said. "That's on the field and is always going to happen in the game of cricket. It's an Ashes series, there is always going to be niggle and banter. I think this series has been played in the right sprits..there was probably only on one occasion that it went too far."

On a hard and flat MCG wicket, England might fancy their chances of avoiding defeat and subsequently another humiliating whitewash Down Under. Having spoken to Victoria's State cricketers about the wicket, Warner admitted Australia would have to work tirelessly to eke out a victory.

"Hopefully this breaks up a little bit," he says. "There is always going to be some reverse. It might break up and spin. The advantage we have is with Nathan Lyon, who gets bounce and drift. With our world-class attack the ball will shift a bit more with their speed."