Eight Times Dismissed - Stuart Broad Makes David Warner His Ashes 2019 Bunny

David Warner was one of the three players who was involved in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in Newlands, Cape Town in March 2018, with the other two being Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft. Smith and Warner were banned for a year while Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban. Ever since the bans ended, Warner has been in fine form in limited overs cricket while Smith has been a run-scoring machine in the ongoing Ashes contest against England. However, in the current series, Warner has been a miserable failure in the five-match series, managing just 95 runs in the five Tests with an average of 9.5 with just two double-digit scores.

In the series, barring scores of 61 and 11, Warner's scores have been 2,8,3,5,0,0,0 and 5. The left-hander has also been Stuart Broad's bunny, dismissing him eight times in the series. Broad has held the upper hand on Warner for most of the series and he now has achieved the feat of dismissing one batsman the most number of times in a single series. In 2017/18, Nathan Lyon had dismissed Moeen Ali seven times in the series. 

Broad now has dismissed Warner 12 times in 23 Tests. The streak began in the fourth Test in 2013 at Chester-le-Street in Durham when he bowled him for three runs. In the return series in 2013/14 Down Under, Broad dismissed Warner in both innings of the Brisbane Test but the left-hander had a good match when he had scores of 49 and 124. In the first innings of the second Test in Adelaide, Broad dismissed Warner for 29 but failed to get the wood over him in the next two Tests. In the final Test in Sydney, Broad got rid of Warner for 16 with a delivery that nipped back in.

Also Read | Australia skipper Aaron Finch disappointed with THIS aspect despite win over Bangladesh in World Cup

In the 2015 series, Warner did not have much trouble against Broad but in 2019, he has failed miserable against him. In Edgbaston, he was trapped LBW and he edged a swinging delivery to Jonny Bairstow. In Lord's, he was bowled by Broad while in the second innings, he edged a delivery from Jofra Archer. In Leeds, he was trapped LBW but it was in this match where he smashed 61 before falling to Archer yet again.

Also Read | David Warner looks to welcome third child after New Zealand match

In Manchester, he bagged a pair for the first time and at The Oval, he was trapped LBW and in his final innings, he edged to third slip where Rory Burns took the catch. 

Apart from Broad, Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton seven times in 1997 while Geoff Lawson sent back David Gower seven times in the 1989 series. Clarrie Grimmett and Brian Statham removed J Siedle and Trevor Goddard in 1935/36 and 1960 series respectively. It is because of Warner's failures that the average opening stand in this Ashes series for Australia has been 8.5. 

After his dismissal, Warner was booed by the Oval crowd and it summed up a torrid comeback for the left-hander, who will now be waiting whether he wil be a certainty for the upcoming series against Pakistan. 

RELATED