{"id":209558,"date":"2025-10-13T06:35:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T06:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/209558\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T06:35:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T06:35:12","slug":"david-warner-makes-call-on-who-should-open-the-batting-for-australia-in-ashes-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/209558\/","title":{"rendered":"David Warner makes call on who should open the batting for Australia in Ashes series"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Aussie opener David Warner has backed young star Sam Konstas to remain at the top<\/a> of the order for the first Ashes match, but has also claimed Marnus Labuschagne could return to the side<\/a>. There has been plenty of debate over who should open the batting for the first match against England in Perth.<\/p>\n

Having moved up to opener for a brief stint, after a lean run of form at No.3, Labuschagne was dropped from the XI earlier this year. Konstas took his place and opened against the West Indies in the three-match tour.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Warner (pictured right) has backed young star Sam Konstas to remain at the top of the order for the first Ashes Test, but has also backed Marnus Labuschagne to return to the side. (Images: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Konstas struggled across the three matches<\/a>, but he enjoyed a successful stint for Australia A in July. But Labuscghange has now returned to form after three centuries in four games for Queensland across all formats. Labuschagne has jumped out of the gates to start the domestic season in-form, but Warner feels Konstas deserves a go to establish himself at the top of the order.<\/p>\n

“I’d like them to try and probably stick with Sam and give him a crack,” Warner said at the Fox Cricket launch on Monday. “He scored that hundred in the Australian A series (in India last month). He batted outstanding there.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think we’ve seen exactly what we know Sam Konstas can do. Last year coming out, he probably got overwhelmed by the occasion and we saw some very highlighted cricket. But I’ve seen him build innings, I’ve seen him play some fantastic innings and I’d like to see him go back to just doing that.”<\/p>\n

Konstas made his name at the top of the order against India last year when he took on Jasprit Bumrah at the MCG. Although his all-out approach has come under criticism since the series with his form fluctuating. But Warner feels Konstas deserves a chance at home to show fans what he can do.<\/p>\n

“Last year I felt like he just got caught up in the occasions,” Warner said of Konstas. “He got caught up in thinking that it was the only way to play that way against Jasprit Bumrah and then did it to the other players.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think he needed to change his game to the other bowlers. I’ve seen him build innings, I’ve seen him play some fantastic innings and I’d like to see him go back to just doing that.”<\/p>\n

David Warner backs Marnus Labuscghange return<\/p>\n

Warner also addressed the form of his old teammate. Labuschagne was told to go back to the domestic front and score runs. And this is exactly what he has done. Warner feels the Queenslander is doing all the right things to earn a recall, which isn’t out of the question come Perth.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarnus has obviously come out of the blocks very well,\u201d Warner added. \u201cWhen you\u2019ve got a lot of Test cricket under your belt, you know what he\u2019s capable of and you know what he can do. When someone\u2019s averaging 50 in Test cricket, you\u2019ve probably got to go back to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in a surprise move, Warner feels Labuschagne could slot straight back into his No.3 position. This would see a reshuffle of the order with Cameron Green dropping back down. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t like to see him open,\u201d Warner said. \u201cI\u2019d like him to shuffle back down to three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marnus<\/p>\n

Marnus Labuschagne (pictured) has scored three centuries across all formats for Queensland to start the domestic season.<\/p>\n

Pat Cummins backs Ashes return<\/p>\n

Pat Cummins also addressed his own future. The Aussie captain is in a race to be fit for the Ashes and admitted he is unlikely to take part in the opening match in Perth on 21 November. However, despite speculation suggesting he might miss the whole series, Cummins admitted he is back to running and should take part in the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m running today, and every second day,\u201d Cummins said. \u201cEach run is getting a little longer and then we kind of get into bowling next week. Probably a couple of weeks away before putting on the spikes and bowling out on turf. It\u2019s been a good couple of weeks. Each sessions feels better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/p>\n

Pat Cummins (pictured) confirmed he is aiming to take part in the Ashes series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Aussie opener David Warner has backed young star Sam Konstas to remain at the top of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,18754,528,46853,17069,85,129177],"class_list":["post-209558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-david-warner","tag-getty-images","tag-marnus-labuschagne","tag-sam-konstas","tag-sports","tag-warner-feels"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}