Australia A versus South Africa A at LC de Villiers Oval, Pretoria.
Australia A 1st innings: 5/399 (89.4 ov)
After an average perform in Zimbabwe, Australia A hit back hard down in South Africa to give Australia's younger players a boost in the wake of a thumping for our national team at Lord's and serious yet justifiable questions surrounding our talent pools.
David Warner has finally come back out of his shell as he slammed 193 runs against a good South African A bowling attack. He hit 29 fours and a six during his innings, falling 7 runs short of a double ton. Sixty-three percent of his runs came from boundaries. Support was provided from debut first-class centurion Glenn Maxwell. Maxwell has struck 103* runs and has been joined at the crease by Tim Paine.
Maxwell hit just 13 fours in his innings, which reflects how hard he must have worked with his running between the wickets. It indicates a steady, patient innings from a man being associated far too closely with Twenty20 cricket. Fifty percent of his innings has come from boundaries, a perfect balance.
The partnership between Warner and Maxwell brought 204 runs after the side was 4-195.
Skipper Aaron Finch has needed to up his first-class game for a while and now is the time the supporters need these guys to really man up and play with unquestionable tenacity and hunger for Australia. We need them to sweat blood and tears, to strive for success and ambition towards First-class cricket in order to ensure they all want to compete for the Baggy Green cap - the tradition.
Finch scored 51 runs facing against the new ball. There was a top order collapse early on (we all know about these) but it was refreshing to see a strong recovery. Shaun Marsh (5) and Alex Doolan (6) unfortunately didn't get on the board.
For some reason the Warner/ Maxwell partnership brought back a memory for me of the Steve Waugh/ Greg Blewett 309 run partnership at the Wanderers back in 1997. That is what that team steadily worked towards. Sticking with a squad, allowing them to go through the trials and tribulations and graft for a winning formula. Eventually when the team was in doubt a duo would emerge from somewhere.
This scenario will raise questions about Warner being sent away from England. It was a decision I wasn't over the moon about and I couldn't see the logic at the time, but in doing so he has struck a brutal century and after being out of form (no denying it) for a while this was what was needed. This boost may have not come in England just yet. He drove himself to it, the good and the bad.
Great to see something positive with on field performances and all I can hope is that this will be a ripple effect of sorts as the boys gear up to take on Sussex tomorrow in a tour match before the third Test.
Hoping for a great game for the side as they search for the survival instinct, especially Nathan Lyon and Jackson Bird who may come into consideration for Old Trafford.
As incredible as it is how things went from a fight for hope after the first Test to a horrifying concern of our future prospects following the second Test, fortune could turn around yet again for us. This side of ours (Australia and Australia A) doesn't boast any comparison to the past, but each guy is capable of something at the elite level. Maybe Warner has sent something over to England all the way from South Africa?
David Warner image is © Getty Images
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