Adelaide: David Warner came under fire from former Australian skipper Michael Clarke and teammate Josh Hazlewood after he, following a shoulder injury, went off the field for a treatment on day one of the third Australia versus South Africa Day-Night Test on Thursday.
South Africa were nine wickets down when Warner decided to rush to the dressing room. Faf du Plessis was soldiering on along side the Tabraiz Shamsi were at the crease. Du Plessis, who has not put a foot wrong leading the side in Australia, made a bold move and declared the innings seeing Warner back in the pavilion. The tactical masterstoke from du Plessis not only forced Aussies to deal with tricky 12-over spell, they had to do it without having Warner as an opener. Usman Khawaja, who bats at number three, had to open the innings with debutant Matt Renshaw.
ICC Test match playing condition says that If the player is absent from the field for longer than 8 minutes then the player shall not be permitted to bat unless or until, in the aggregate, he has returned to the field and/or his side’s innings has been in progress for at least that length of playing time for which he has been absent or, if earlier, when his side has lost five wickets.
Michael Clarke, who was commentating when Warner walked off the field and South Africa declared their innings, was not pleased with the swashbuckling opener’s actions.
"I cannot believe I am seeing this. The Australian vice-captain has gone off the field when South Africa are nine down with the risk or understanding they could declare at any time and it looks like he has spent so much time off the field he cannot open the batting for Australia,” said Clarke as reported by cricket.com.au.
"This is massive for this Australian batting line-up, the second most senior player – vice captain of the team – can't walk out and open the batting in tough conditions," added Clarke
Hazlewood, Warner’s teammate, said Warner did the wrong thing and hoped that he won’t repeat the same.
"(We) know the rules and he was off the field for too long. He'll hold himself accountable, that's how Davey goes,” said Hazlewood.
"He'll know he did the wrong thing and apologise to the group, especially Usman. He'll learn from it and hopefully it doesn't happen again," added the Australian pacer.
Warner, who took the field on day two of the Test, could only score 11 before getting out to Kyle Abbott.
