David Warner shows he is still up for the Ashes fight with opening stand | Geoff Lemon

On his last Ashes tour the opener, more watchful than in the past, again gave Australia a good start at Lord’s in second Test

You get the sense that David Warner has spent his lifetime looking for a fight. Speak to players who came up against the young version in suburban Sydney cricket, remembering Warner prowling the boundary getting stuck into fielders when he had finished batting. Trace a line all the way to the current era, the old stager version running out on to the field with skipping feet, ready to sway and duck and jab.

All the way through, there has always been a flashpoint, a point to prove. An Indian opener, a Zimbabwe A wicketkeeper, a Cricket Australia head of high performance. Warner has held on to resentments, from peers or opponents or media, and relished the feeling of vindication from some starring subsequent performance. In the end it hasn’t really mattered who, or what, or why. The conflict has been the thing, pushed down inside until it is powerful, some compressed puck of solid-propellant fuel to fire his next launch.

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