Key events
Speaking of box office, international cricket no longer has two of the most watchable, and quotable, stars of the modern era with Warner chasing Broad outside off-stump into retirement.
As Barney Ronay wrote ahead of the series, one thing Warner has been the entirety of his career is box office. Love or loath him, he will be missed.
We look forward to the thoughts next year of Jayden Goodbloke, who makes self-aware jokes and doesn’t seem insane, powered by rage or unhealthily obsessed with the meaning of a green hat. For now it is time to treasure a last great summer of Dave.
Relive where it all began back in 2009 at the MCG. Warner was such an unknown he was listed as a right-hand batter by Channel 9 on his first on-screen graphic. He was also nearly run out for one in the first over.
Has there been a more contentious cricketer in modern history? It has been impossible not to hold an opinion about David Warner at every stage throughout his extraordinary career. Moreover, for many of us that opinion has changed frequently and dramatically as the opener has repeatedly found himself at the centre of the action on and off the field.
As the introduction to this Geoff Lemon piece from late 2022 demonstrates, in just one paragraph it’s easy to form many competing opinions of the man simultaneously.
Over a long career, David Warner has presented many versions of himself. The short-form bludgeoner of his T20 debut in 2009 gave way to the studious opener of his first Test century on a Hobart greentop in 2011. The raucous presence known as The Bull who was suspended from the 2013 Ashes gave way to the contemplative Reverend by 2015, schooling teammates on the power of positive thinking, before returning to his most confrontational mode before the Ashes in 2017. The instigator of the sandpaper ball-tampering plot in 2018 served a year’s playing ban, ran the well-worn path of public redemption via on-field success, and has since presented himself as an elder statesman with an accordingly impeccable disciplinary record.
It looks like there’ll be a decent crowd in early at the SCG, many of them presumably in attendance to salute the retiring David Warner.
It is dry in Sydney today with temperatures in the low 20s, kept in check by an easterly breeze. No risk of rain or bad light pushing us into Sunday.
The pitch proved treacherous yesterday with inconsistent bounce, plenty of turn, and frequent puffs of dust as the ball burst through the surface.
If you want to catch up on yesterday’s action, read all about it here:
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to day four of the third Test between Australia and Pakistan from the SCG. We’ll be underway in Sydney at 10am AEDT.
It is almost certainly the final day’s play of the series, and with it, the final day in the Test career of David Warner. Josh Hazlewood’s late triple-wicket maiden yesterday evening means Australia are poised to complete a 3-0 series sweep, and be in a position to chair Warner from his home ground with the send-off he has long craved.
Pakistan will resume on 68/7 – a lead of 82 – reliant on first innings heroes Mohammad Rizwan and Aamer Jamal to set Australia a troublesome total to chase. Anything over 100 could be nervy, anything over 200 challenging, on an uneven pitch that encouraged 15 wickets to fall on Friday.
I’ll be around for the opening half of the day, and if we get much beyond lunch Geoff Lemon will take the reins. While I’m on, feel free to drop me an email: jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
