As David Warner nears the end of his career, Pat Cummins has showered praises on the veteran, calling him Australia’s best three-format batter. It’s a tight timeframe to decide who is Australia’s best all-format player when T20s have only been around for about 15 years. With a standard statistical caveat of a player needing to have played at least 20 matches in a format to qualify, only 32 have hit that benchmark in the T20I arena for Australia. Many of them were white-ball specialists who played little to no Test cricket, so they don’t qualify for the best three-format XI.
Cummins claimed Warner has been a mainstay in all three formats for over a decade, demonstrating impressive longevity. Another player who has had a brilliant career is Ricky Ponting, who dominated Test and one-day cricket. Although he only represented Australia in 15 T20s, he would have excelled in the shortest format if he had focused on it towards the end of his career. Ponting turned on a masterclass of clean hitting in the inaugural T20 international against New Zealand in 2005, proving his versatility across formats.
Warner has three World Cup trophies in ODIs and T20s, making him a standout performer across formats. Although Smith could rival Warner and Ponting for output, he doesn’t dominate the white-ball arena to the extent of his red-ball supremacy. As Warner prepares to pad up in his final Test match, his on-field production has been questioned, especially after averaging less than 30 in 20 innings last year.
The spotlight will now be on Australia’s selectors to decide on a new top order before the upcoming series against India. Warner’s retirement marks the end of an era, and despite past controversies, the overall goodwill towards him at the SCG will likely overshadow any jeers from the crowd.