Almost twisted my ankle: Steve Smith jokes about David Warner’s weird footmarks on pitch in WTC Final

David Warner has played over 100 Tests but the seasoned opener did not stop finding new ways to make himself more effective with the bat.

Despite a poor run in Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, Warner was given backing by the Australian selectors for the big World Test Championship final.

Warner did not disappoint as the Australian opener survived a difficult phase with the bat on the opening day of the WTC 2023 Final. Rohit Sharma won the toss and sent Australia into bat on an overcast morning at the Oval on Wednesday.

Despite losing Usman Khawaja early, Australia held fort in the first session as David Warner found a way to hang in alongside Marnus Labuschagne with the two batters adding 69 runs for the 2nd wicket. Warner did a fine job by seeing off the new ball India lost steam after a terrific opening spell from Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

Warner made 43 from 60 balls before getting out right after Lunch but he helped lay a solid platform for Australia to build. It was Warner and Labuschagne who weathered the storm and allowed Steve Smith and Travis Head to make use of the good batting conditions.

Smith and Head added 285 runs for the 4th wicket as Australia went on to post 469 in the first innings. Smith hit 121 while Head top-scored with 163 for Australia.

“Yeah, I almost fell in it,” Smith said when he was asked about the unusual guard that Warner took on the opening day of the final.

A HOLE NEAR THE CREASE?
Notably, former captain Ricky Ponting explained on television on Thursday about Warner’s unusual and deep guard that made a hole near the stumps. Ponting said Warner made a deep line that ran parallel to the stumps behind the crease in order to help him understand when he moved too far back and across.

“If he moved back and across, he could feel his heel going into the hole,” Ponting had explained for Channel 7.

‘HE CAN KEEP DIGGING THAT HOLE”

Smith said he was unaware of Warner’s new guard and had to ask his batting partner Marnus Labuschagne about the deep hole that was there at one end of the pitch on Day 1 of the WTC final.

“I kind of, I didn’t really move around it. I got used to it eventually, but almost twisted my ankle the first few balls I faced out there to be honest. Then I sort of got used to it, but it was odd. I’d never experienced that before on that side really,” Smith explained.

“You occasionally get the edge of the foot marks, you know, the back end of a game, second innings where you kind of fall into them and you’re a bit, yeah, I don’t know, just off balance, but when I’m moving to off stump and I’ve got this hole there, it was something I hadn’t experienced before, but maybe I need to do it more often, it worked for me, so he can keep digging that hole I suppose,” he added.

Nothing deterred Smith from getting to his 31st Test century as he started the summer in England on a high. It was also Smith’s 8th hundred vs India as he broke Ricky Ponting record for most centuries against India in Tests.