ALMOST six years ago to the day, a stocky left-hander from NSW’s second XI walked onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and ripped apart one of the best bowling attacks in the world.

As good as Warner’s performance was that night – his captain Ricky Ponting said it was like an innings Adam Gilchrist would play – there was little doubt his hit-first, think-later method would need serious adjustment if he was to ever make an impact in the white clothing.
One man who saw that innings up close was another Australian left-handed opening batsman, Channel Nine commentator Mark Taylor.
Speaking yesterday after Warner blasted 101 from 114 balls, Taylor initially lauded Warner for transforming himself from the T20 slogger of six years ago to a player currently rated the eighth best Test batsman in the world.
But Taylor quickly corrected himself, saying the 28-year-old hasn’t transformed, but rather refined and added to the raw ability that was so obvious six years ago.
“No, it’s not a transformation, that’s not right,” Taylor told cricket.com.au.
“It’s great to see a guy who we all knew had great natural talent be able to use that and improve his game from six years ago.
“We all knew he could whack it around, but six years ago he couldn’t bat like he batted today.
“Without losing that raw aggression, he’s been able to harness it at times, work on his defence, stay in when it’s tough and now he can make Test centuries as well as T20 centuries.
“One thing we all knew (six years ago) was that David Warner was a talent.
“We all knew that, just by the way he took on Dale Steyn and the like in that game.
“I think we said at the time, you don’t hit those sorts of bowlers around the park if you can’t play, if you can’t see the ball.
“You go from that and see whether you can’t develop your game enough to be an all-round cricketer, not a smash-and-bash merchant but someone who could actually play all forms of the game.
“And that’s what David Warner’s done. He’s proved to us that he is the full package.
Somewhat surprisingly for a man so prolific in the shortest form of the game, Warner says he now prefers the 50-over and Test formats, when he’s afforded the time to build an innings rather than hit out from ball one like he did that night at the MCG.
This despite an innings today that featured 16 boundaries and took just 182 minutes to compile, as India’s wayward bowlers were punished on a placid SCG surface.
Warner’s desire to be patient early on also flies in the face of his career strike-rate of 74.53, which rises to 84.70 in innings where he’s scored 100 runs or more.
While still preferring to dictate the pace of the match, Warner says his ability to pick and choose when to do so is an attribute he lacked early in his international career.
“My early days in one-day cricket as well (as Tests), I really wasn’t comfortable, I didn’t know how to go about it,” he said.
“I find that with Test cricket and one-day cricket, it’s not about relaxing (but) it’s about being comfortable in the process of how to go about your innings.
“You can actually have time to build your innings.
“In Test cricket and one-day cricket, you’ve got a lot more time than you think.
“Scoring at a fast rate is something I like to do; I like to take on the bowlers.
“But there’s always going to be times where there’s good bowling and you’ve got to try to nut that out in a way and you’ve got to respect good bowling.”

(AAP)