6 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Australian
Warner shot down before Smith says G'day to LA
A brawling sort of bloke walked towards this fantabulous crease at Lord's. He resembled a weathered old cowboy stepping into a familiar bar with a bow-legged swagger, smirk and intention to create a little mischief. First thought? He was a dead-ringer for ex-Australian cricketer Dave Warner.
Second thought? Good grief, as we live and breathe, it was Davey Warner, front and centre on opening night of The Hundred, the competition in which umpteen Australians, led by Steve Smith and Ellyse Perry, having their merry hits for Welsh Fire and Birmingham Phoenix, are lining their pockets and travelling all over the countryside in an abbreviated format of the grand old game even more abbreviated than the abbreviated T20 format.
Competitions like The Hundred are where Test greats go to die. The 39-year-old Warner made nine runs from 10 deliveries for London Spirit versus Oval Invincibles. The latter franchise should be sued for copyright by Cricket Australia for pilfering the nickname of Bradman's 1948 tourists. There's only one Invincibles and everyone else should nick off and leave it alone.
Warner's side was rolled for 80 inside their 100 deliveries – that's the spirit! – before the team that shall not be named won so convincingly I struggle to recall what happened.
Spirit's Rashid Khan was man of the match for taking 3-11. He triumphed via a cheeky selection of leg breaks, wrong 'uns and arm balls that went straighter than the BBC.
The Inexpressibles tried to combat him with equally sassy ramps and reverse sweeps but you can't outfox the fox. A real one went spotteding around the outfield but even that came to nothing. The little fellow didn't stay long. Wasn't much of a game.
New Zealand Test great Kane Williamson is the wise and sensible captain of the Spirit. His beard was XI shades greyer by the time the fleeting fixture drew to a close. WG Grace must've been scratching his head in his grave. You call this cricket? Australia's thoughtful, old-school Test doyen Justin Langer is the Spirit's coach.
Both Williamson and Langer were masters of seeing off the new ball. In The Hundred, that's the only ball you get. When the Spirit ponder at their next team meeting who'll bat No.3, Langer should shout, 'Me!'
David Warner plays a false shot leading to his dismissal at Lord's Picture: Getty Images
I won't bore you with a real match report. The team with the sacrilegious nickname prevailed by about a million balls. (That'd be a great competition. The Million.) More than 15,000 spectators rocked up to Lord's and I do get the appeal. Howzat crowd so big? Because there's joy in watching serious cricketers with a licence to tonk. Smith and Perry, for example, are proper players who play proper strokes in longer, deeper and more meaningful engagements, but in The Hundred they can throw caution to the wind and perform as if the whole thing revolves around whisky shots rather than cricket shots. All a bit of fun in the Australian off-season.
It was highly entertaining to watch Nasser Hussain attempt a serious analysis for Sky Sports. Come on, man, you're better than this. In the final over, Williamson held a pained expression that suggested, 'What am I actually doing with my life?' Which is not to suggest the highlights aren't worthwhile in closer contests. Meg Lanning made 85 from 51 deliveries for the unmentionables in the women's game; Grace Harris clobbered an unbeaten 89 from 42 as the Spirit won by 17 runs. Entertaining and watchable.
Smith hasn't played The Hundred for six years. The increase in maximum player payments to $400,000 and his eagerness to become an Olympian at Los Angeles in 2028 has lured him to a bright red shirt in Cardiff. The Fire get up and running against Northern Superchargers, which includes England Test players Harry Brook and Zak Crawley, at Headingley on Friday (3.30am AEST).
Spectators watch as a fox runs past Ryan Higgins of London Spirit during the The Hundred Picture: Getty Images
A 'huge part' of Smith's retirement from ODIs was his desire to dive into T20 leagues. He wants to hit, giggle, twitch and fiddle his way back to the Australian side before the LA Games. 'It gives me some opportunities to be able to play in some different tournaments and keep trying to put my best foot forward to get back into the T20 team for Australia,' he said. 'My goal now is to try and play in the Olympics. That's motivating me and I want to try and keep getting better at the shorter format.'
Smith hasn't played an IPL match in four years. He was a T20 World Cup winner in 2021 before his sacking for David. A reasonable call given David's berserk 37-ball century against West Indies. But Smith, who forecasts 'a belter' of an Ashes this summer, is going after the Olympics like a dog in pursuit of a bone. Three centuries in his last eight BBL innings for Sydney Sixers make you think he'll get to LA by hook (shot) or by crook (shot).
'Andrew McDonald actually joked with me the other day that every time I go back and play T20, I always send him a text saying, 'Did you see that?'' Smith told ESPNcricinfo. 'Hopefully, I can send him quite a few texts throughout this month of August. It'd be nice to smash a few around the park and send off a text and ask him whether he saw it.'
Read related topics: David Warner
Will Swanton
Sport Reporter
Will Swanton is a sportswriter who's won Walkley, Kennedy, Sport Australia and News Awards. He's won the Melbourne Press Club's Harry Gordon Award for Australian Sports Journalist of the Year.
Will Swanton
