'He’s got to get selected first' - David Warner's blunt remark on Stuart Broad challenge ahead of Ashes 2023

The Ashes 2023 is just two weeks away as Australia and England are all set to lock horns to ignite cricket’s oldest rivalry from June 16 onwards. Fans are eagerly waiting for the two teams to go against each other in the much-anticipated series as both sides are in sensational form ahead of the five-match competition. However, if anyone is coming into the series under a lot of pressure, he is the star Australian opener, David Warner.

Warner hasn’t been in the best of forms in the last two years in Test cricket as he’s been averaging in the 30s in the past two years. The southpaw will face a tough challenge against star England seamer Stuart Broad who troubled him during the last Ashes in England in 2019. Speaking about the challenge ahead of the series, Warner has said that the seamer needs to find a place in the team first.

"He’s got to get selected first. I don’t really have any plans, to be honest, so if he gets selected, then I’ll adjust when I’m out there. Hopefully, this time around I can come out and look to score and play in a positive way. I’m picked here for a series to play cricket. One has spoken to me about any situation. I’m just here as an opening batter to continue my decade-long career,” Warner was quoted as saying by The Age.

David Warner averages 26 in England

Notably, during the 2019 Ashes, Stuart Broad dismissed Warner seven times out of the ten innings as the opener only managed to score 95 runs at an average of 9.50 with one half-century to his name. It was also the worst-ever average by an opener in a five-match series.

Furthermore, the 36-year-old averages 26 with the bat in England with seven fifties to his name. In the last 15 innings, he has just one fifty-plus score i.e. 200 against South Africa during the boxing day Test at MCG in 2022. Warner will get a good preparation opportunity for the Ashes as Australia will face India in the World Test Championship final from June 7, at the Oval in London.