Warner takes solace from painful past

David Warner is citing the run of form he enjoyed after a lengthy lay-off with a broken thumb last year as reason to expect his lack of match preparation won’t prove detrimental in the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka.

Warner did not play in either of Australia’s pre-Test warm-up games in Colombo over the past fortnight as he continued to recover from a broken left index finger, which he sustained while fielding during last month’s ODI tri-series in the Caribbean.

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But he returned to training over recent days and, while he wasn’t part of the slips cordon catching drills at Pallekele Stadium to protect his damaged digit, he batted without discomfort against seamers in the nets and has passed himself fit to play in the first Test starting here on Tuesday.

"It’s going well at the moment, a couple of times when I’ve hit on the toe (of the bat) it’s been a bit painful,” he said of the injury that saw him return early from the West Indies five weeks ago.

"But I’ve experienced that before with the thumb (which he fractured when hit while batting against England in the ODI Series that followed last year’s Ashes in the UK).

"I’ll do the same thing I did with the thumb, put a guard over the top that’s underneath the glove and has a bit of a silicon feel to it and stops a bit of vibration.

"But I should be ready to go."

Warner has no choice but to recall the thumb fracture inflicted by England quick Steve Finn last year – the pain he feels on an almost daily basis will remain with him throughout his cricket career and beyond.

But it also provides him with comfort in the knowledge that he returned to international cricket for the opening Test of the previous Australian summer having played just one Sheffield Shield fixture – albeit a pink ball day-night game in Adelaide – before he donned the Baggy Green Cap.

And then promptly peeled off consecutive scores of 163, 116 and 253 in his first three Test innings.

"I think I play my best cricket when I’m fresh, and the last six to seven weeks has been fantastic," Warner said.

"Obviously I hit a bit of form patch (in the Indian Premier League and then in the Caribbean) and you never want to sit out matches, but due to a break I was forced to do that.

"But I’m ready to go and I can’t wait."

The additional padding that Warner will carry in his batting gloves will hopefully prevent a recurrence on pitches in Sri Lanka that are not expected to offer much pace and bounce.

But finding adequate protection while fielding becomes more problematic given the restrictions on the size and scope of guards that players can adopt for their hands while on the field.

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As a result, Warner looks set to field at mid-off in at least the first Test rather than his usual position in the slips cordon.

Usman Khawaja was been involved in the catching drills in the days leading into the Pallekele Test, stationed at third slip with Adam Voges (first), Steve Smith (second) and Mitchell Starc (gully) making up the remainder of the cordon.

Given his close catching prowess, it’s been deemed that Starc receives more of a rest between bowling spells by being stationed in the cordon than he would trotting around the boundary in the deep as has traditionally been the means of spelling fast bowlers.

A benefit for stationing resting quicks at deep fine leg is the proximity of cold drinks and (at certain times of the day) shade from grandstand awnings, but Starc seems likely to spend some time in the gully with Mitchell Marsh filling that role when the left-arm quick is bowling.