For the first time, I wasn’t abused in England: David Warner

Warner hasn’t shared the greatest of rapport with the English crowd, and would usually end up getting booed or jeered by the crowd.

David Warner for one wouldn’t mind playing cricket without crowd in England. The Australia opening batsman, who over the years, hasn’t shared the greatest of rapport with the English crowd, and would usually end up getting booed or jeered by the crowd, did not encounter the wrath during the opening match of the T20I series.

“It was the first time I’ve been here (England) and not got abuse. It was quite nice,” Warner said after the match. “You get that up and going (from the crowd). That’s why we love playing home and away. There’s home advantage and away advantage.”

Warner’s equation with the English crowd changed for the worse for the first time after the Australia batsman had punched captain Joe Root in a bar in Birmingham during the 2013 Ashes. Ever since, the English crowd has simply refused to warm-up to Warner. Besides, the fact that Warner was banned for 12 months for his role in the infamous ball tampering scandal, only prompted the crowd to become even more hostile, which was evident during last year’s Ashes.

That said, Warner was happy to be back playing international cricket. He is expected to fly to India and join the Sunrisers Hyderabad squad in the UAE and ahead of the tournament, there’s nothing like getting some quality practice against a top-notch team.

“But we’re always up for international cricket. We’re just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that.” Warner said there were no excuses to offer for the defeat and his side were outplayed by England. “Towards the end they (England) bowled exceptionally well, they knocked us over quite comprehensively.”

Warner rued the fact that Australia lost narrowly, from a position of winning. “I think we just have to try to be a little bit smarter and work out how we’re going to hit our boundaries,” he said. “We have to try to keep rotating strike and keep finding the boundary in those middle overs.”