Mould-breaker Warner bows out on his own terms

SYDNEY : David Warner admits he never quite fit the mould of a test player but this week will end his 12-year career on his own terms and in the same manner that other modern greats of the Australian game have made their exits.

Steve Waugh, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath are just a few of the players who have taken their final bow in the New Year's test at Sydney Cricket Ground and, for his batting exploits at least, Warner deserves a place in the same conversation.

The lefthander set new standards for explosive openers in his early years in the test game, bringing limited-overs shot-making and strike rates to the longest format and showing the ability to take the game away from an opponent inside a session.

The out-and-out master blaster of his younger days matured into a smarter cricketer whose place in the test team was, until recently, never in doubt with media debate usually focused on who would bat with him at the other end.

While current captain Pat Cummins rates him as the best three-format player Australia has ever produced, Warner's career will forever be blighted by his role in the ball-tampering scandal that traumatized the country in 2018.

That incident solidified him as a pantomime villain in England but elsewhere, particularly in India, his exploits with the bat have made him a switch-hitting superstar.

Warner himself has a very clear idea of what his legacy should be.

"Someone who has gone out there and just given it his all," the 37-year-old said without hesitation when asked the question on Monday.

"A boy from a housing commission having a dream. I've not always fitted the mould, but I've been authentic and honest. I think that shows on the field in test cricket, I've played the exact same way.

"I'm even