Ashes player profiles: David Warner

David Warner has played a big role in Australia's Ashes rivalry with England over the past decade and, at 36, he will be determined to make his mark on the 2023 series.

Warner scored just 95 runs in 10 innings on his last Test tour of England but he has racked up 25 centuries in 104 Test appearances and is aiming to help 10/11 Australia win the five-match series against 6/4 hosts England.

Name	David Warner
Age	36
Position	Left-handed opening batsman
Teams	Australia and New South Wales
Test Appearances	104
Test runs	8202
Test wickets	4

David Warner background

David Warner's arrival on the international scene signalled a new era for cricket as he was the first man since 1877 to play for Australia before making his first-class debut.

The selectors' gamble paid off immediately as Warner crunched 89 off just 43 balls in his first T20 international against South Africa in January 2009.

He made his ODI debut a week later and in March that year took an important step on the path towards Test cricket with a first Sheffield Shield appearance, batting at number six for home state New South Wales against Western Australia.

Warner's first Test came against New Zealand in Brisbane in December 2011, when he made 12 not out in the second innings, hitting back-to-back boundaries to seal a nine-wicket win for the Aussies and herald the start of a long and dramatic Test career.

David Warner career achievements

Warner has had a glittering career in white-ball cricket, winning the 2015 World Cup and the 2021 T20 World Cup with Australia and finishing as the top runscorer in the Indian Premier League in the 2015, 2017 and 2019 seasons.

His first two Test centuries were both noteworthy. In only his second game, he carried his bat in a defeat to New Zealand in Hobart, making an unbeaten 123 in a fourth-innings total of 233, while in January 2012 he raced to a century off just 69 balls against India, finishing with 180 from 159 deliveries.

Warner scored two centuries and an unbeaten 83 in the 2013/14 home Ashes victory over England before a stunning run of seven centuries and three fifties in just 16 innings against South Africa, Pakistan and India in 2014 and early 2015.

Another hot streak came in November 2015, when he cracked 163, 116 and 253 in his first three innings of Australia's home series against New Zealand.

And, after his woeful 2019 Ashes series, Warner bounced back with 154 against Pakistan at the Gabba and an epic 335 not out in the following Test in Adelaide. 

David Warner playing style

Warner could easily have ended up as a white-ball specialist given his unconventional route into Australia's T20 team but he has successfully transferred his aggressive batting approach to Test cricket.

He is particularly strong through the off side and loves the ball coming on to the bat, which explains his superb record on pacy pitches in Australia. Even at the age of 36, he remains an excellent fielder.

Warner comes into the 2023 Ashes series with 8,202 runs from 104 appearances and he reached the 8,000-run mark in style, scoring 200 in his 100th Test against South Africa in December.

Along with Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting, he is one of only three players in Test history to have scored a century in both innings of a match on three occasions and his 335 not out against Pakistan is the fifth-highest score by an opening batsman in Tests.

Warner has a formidable record in Australia, scoring 19 centuries in 55 Tests, and in South Africa, where he averages 63, but he has failed to score a Test ton in his first 14 Ashes appearances in England and would love to put that right this summer.

David Warner Ashes odds

Warner's highest Test score in 27 innings in England is 85 at The Oval in 2015 and he is 11/2 to be Australia's Top Team Batter in the 2023 Ashes, with Steve Smith 11/10 and Marnus Labuschagne 7/2.

The left-hander is 9/1 to banish memories of his lean series in 2019 by finishing this summer's series as the Top Batter on either team.

Attack could be the best form of defence for Warner against England's new-ball bowlers and the veteran is 9/1 to score the Fastest Series Fifty.