Smith leads strong defence of under-pressure Warner

Backed by top-order teammates to recapture his best with the bat, David Warner has also been given one of his strongest character endorsements with Steve Smith declaring his lifetime leadership ban as "fundamentally wrong".

The disparity between Warner and Smith’s sanctions arising from the 2018 Cape Town affair – both were suspended from playing for a year, but Smith was only barred from captaining for a further 12 months – was underlined as Smith stood in as skipper for an Adelaide Test overshadowed by Warner's decision to pull out of a review that could have overturned his permanent leadership ban.

Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley has defended the independent process Warner sensationally withdrew from on Test eve, labelling it "best practice" in sports integrity.

But Smith, who has now twice stood in for Pat Cummins since his re-elevation to the Test vice-captaincy last year and led Australia to a monster 419-run over West Indies this week, insisted Warner’s original punishment was unjust.

"From my point of view, banning someone for life from leadership is just fundamentally wrong," Smith told reporters on Sunday afternoon.

"David served his time like I did.

"For us, we know he's a leader around the group, and on and off the field he's doing a tremendous job. It's been a difficult one for him, it's been a difficult week.

"David has said he's done and dusted (with the review) and wants to get on with it. He's got our full support. Hopefully he can have a really big series for us against South Africa with the bat."

Smith conceded the ongoing saga has been "more of a distraction for Davey" than for the rest of the team, insisting the batter has got the "full support of everyone in the team".

From a pure performance perspective as well, Warner's teammates are rallying around him. Smith labelled him one of Australia's best ever openers, while opening partner Usman Khawaja passionately suggested questions over his spot in the team were "bizarre".

"I've played a lot of (Sheffield) Shield cricket over the last few years and I can guarantee you there's no better opener than David Warner in Australia," Khawaja told cricket.com.au.

"For me all the chat is a bit weird. The grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's not even coming into talks in the change room, it's not even thought about."

Added Smith: "Davey's a once in a generation player, he's arguably the best ever opener for Australia.

"The way he's able to put pressure on bowlers from the outset helps everyone down the order as well.

"He's been an incredible player for a long period of time, his record suggests that. There's no reason why he can't have a big series for us coming this week as well. He's batting nicely.

"He hasn't had a great deal of luck lately either, it seems like every time he gets an inside edge, it goes onto the stumps. A lot of the time when you're scoring runs you need some luck."

Test great Ricky Ponting, who said he spoke with Warner before play on Sunday, insisted the left-hander would not be satisfied with his recent returns with the bat.

Warner is without a Test century from his last 26 innings, the longest drought of his career, and has passed fifty just twice in his last 18 hits.

Against the Windies, he was dismissed by wide deliveries in three of his four innings, dragging balls onto his stumps twice. He has made starts in each of his knocks this summer, passing 20 and batting for longer than 30 minutes in all but one.

At 36 years of age and with Australia venturing to two countries over the coming months where he has had little prior success (he averages 24 in India and 26 in England), Warner will find little surprise in the spotlight being turned on him.

But, as his teammates point out, a batting average of 46.04 as an opener from nearly a century of Tests suggests his form slumps rarely last long.

While Warner's demeanour has remained even despite his struggles, notably smiling as he walked off after being dismissed in Australia's second innings in Adelaide, Ponting suggested that was masking his true feelings.

"He went and sought me out this morning, I put my arms around him and asked him how he was going," Ponting told Channel Seven. "He said he was doing fine and that could be the man coming out in him.

"I look back at the series for him and it is one of missed opportunities, against a depleted West Indies attack, on what has been a couple of very good batting wickets.

"Three of his dismissals in the series have been like that – playing at wide balls. He’s dragged two of them on and he’s nicked one. He's got starts in all bar one of the four innings.

"He walks off with a smile on his face. He is not smiling on the inside.

"He will be disappointed that he's missed out because in his last 26 Test match innings – only the four fifties, and he hasn't made a hundred in Test cricket since January 2020.

"Missed opportunities for him going into a massive series against South Africa."

Men's NRMA Insurance Test Series v South Africa

Dec 17-21: First Test, Gabba, 11.20am AEDT

Dec 26-30: Second Test, MCG, 10.30am AEDT

Jan 4-8: Third Test, SCG, 10.30am AEDT

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner

South Africa squad: Dean Elgar (c), Temba Bavuma, Gerald Coetzee, Theunis de Bruyn, Sarel Eree, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Heinrich Klaasen, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams, Khaya Zondo

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