George Bailey opines on Warner’s red-hot form before World Cup 2023

David Warner is one of Australia’s greatest batters of all time. The gritty cricketer will be playing his third ODI World Cup in October-November in India.

Heading into the showpiece event, the southpaw has been in scintillating form. In the recently concluded three-match series against India, Warner finished as Australia’s highest run-getter and second overall, with 161 runs at an average of 53.67. Prior to this series, Australia travelled to South Africa to play five ODIs, and Warner was in fine form there as well, scoring 206 runs at an average of 41.20. What stands out in these two series is the stunning strike rate of the 36-year-old. Against the Proteas, he had a strike rate of 121.18, while against India, he upped the ante, scoring at 127.78.

Australia’s men’s selection chair, George Bailey, wasn’t surprised with Warner taking his game up by several notches heading into the World Cup as he noted that big players build themselves for stages like these.

“Not just in the Australian team, but around the world, these are the tournaments that the best players build themselves up for and get excited about,” men’s selection chair George Bailey told Cricket Australia from Thiruvananthapuram where Australia are scheduled to play the Netherlands in a warm-up match against the Netherlands on Saturday, September 30.

“That’s the ultimate challenge for them to not only prove how good they are individually but also to help their team get some really exciting success. So (I’m) not surprised that he’s hit the ground running over here with the enthusiasm that you’d expect from ‘Davey’ and playing really well,” Bailey added.

Travis Head is a really important player for us: George Bailey

Opening batter Travis Head was ruled out of the first half of the World Cup after fracturing his left hand during the series against South Africa. Bailey was effusive in his praise for the left-handed batter and hoped he would play a key role when he comes back to play later in the tournament.

“Trav is a really important player for us, he’s certainly a player who’s in our first choice XI. Hopefully when he does come online, he can have a really important impact towards the back end of the tournament,” Bailey said.