David Leggat: The larrikin who is growing up

Warner's rich vein of form has seen the ball disappear to all parts of the field. GETTY IMAGES

Opinion

The David Warner who is now among world cricket's most thrilling performers is a far cry from the larrikin who set out on his international cricket journey labelled a Twenty20 slogger six years ago.

His 89 off 43 balls against South Africa was a sensational start, but the bedrock for a stellar test career? That's another story.

The doubters have had to tip their hats. He's a changed man, up to a point, because the rough edges can still be found.

Ask any Australian cricket writer and they will insist if they were stuck with an Australian player, on or off the record, for an hour they'd plump for the pugnacious little man from Sydney.

He can be engaging company, is unafraid to speak his mind - occasionally to his detriment - but you won't die wondering at his message.

If you're looking for the point where Warner, from rough and tumble Housing Commission roots in Matraville, in south-east Sydney, turned things around, look first at mid-2013.

When Warner whacked England batsman Joe Root at the Walkabout bar in Birmingham, it marked a line in the sand. He was dumped for a couple of Ashes tests and came close to being sent home. Had that happened, who knows whether his story would have unfolded as spectacularly as it has?

"People think you are poor, that you can't make it," Warner said reflecting on his formative years. "But I had one of the best upbringings I could have asked for. There were stacks of townhouses so all the kids would play footy, cricket, soccer ... you name it. I look at those days and my determination came from there."

There were early scrapes and he was booted out of the Cricket Australia Centre of Excellence in Brisbane at 20.

His crime? His room was a shambles, hardly a hanging offence, but Warner took heed.

"That was a lack of maturity on my part. That showed me you have to do the right things along the way. I had some setbacks but I'd like to think I learned from my mistakes and I still have growing up to do," he said recently.

In his second test, against New Zealand in Hobart four years ago, Warner batted through the fourth innings to finish unbeaten on 123 as Australia fell seven runs shy in a thrilling finish.

Throw in his three successive tons in this series and he's gone four on the trot against New Zealand.

But trouble has followed him.

There was the ugly "speak English" spray delivered to Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, himself no shrinking violet, in an ODI in Melbourne last summer.

"When I went over to say something to him, he sort of said something in their language and I said, 'speak English' because, if you're going to say something, understand that theoretically I cannot speak Hindi," Warner said at the time. "I was in the wrong. I shouldn't have engaged him. [But] if people get on the wrong side of me, I'm not going to back down."

The summer had two disciplinary punishments. Martin Crowe joined the chorus of disapproval.

"He is the most juvenile cricketer I have seen," the former New Zealand captain wrote in a column, referring to his "hideous energy". "I don't care how good he is. The more he gets away with it, the more others will follow his pitiful actions."

But Warner has changed. He quit smoking, laid off the drink (he hasn't touched a drop of alcohol since finding out his wife Candice was pregnant with their second child about six months ago but admitted yesterday he might break it after his big knock), went on a fitness drive and his personal life is settled.

He already has a daughter with Candice (nee Falzon), a former Ironwoman athlete, and with domestic bliss has come wonderful batting feats.

If, a couple of years back, you'd said Warner would be averaging 51.62 as a test opener, scored 15 test centuries, become vice-captain of the national team and an influential dressing-room figure, you would have got sideways glances suggesting time out in a dark room was called for.

Only Don Bradman, Matthew Hayden and Neil Harvey among Australians got to 4000 test runs faster than 29-year-old Warner in terms of innings played.

Since facing South Africa early last year, Warner has scored 10 centuries in his last 34 innings, or 18 tests. His 253 yesterday is his highest test score.

The man who used to put the hammer down, with little patience if the bowling called for it, is now a touch more circumspect. He has better judgment in picking his time and a greater appreciation of rotating the strike.

"If the ball's in my areas, I'm still going to go for it, regardless of what the score is," he told Channel 9. "That was in the back of my mind [on Friday], that if we couldn't hit that big shot away, we still had a single on offer."

He insists he's not driven by records.

"They take care of themselves. You do what you can for the team and back your ability. The way I approach the game, when I get to 50 or 100, [it's about] trying to make those big scores. At the moment, it's working."