Warner angst adds spice to Australia's sleepy home summer

MELBOURNE: Home tests against an undermanned Pakistan may struggle to excite even the most ardent Australian cricket fan but angst over David Warner's farewell tour has given the series a much-welcomed boost.

Since his test debut against New Zealand in 2011, Warner has been front and centre in Australian cricket, whether as a poster boy for brilliance or a whipping boy for the team's occasional transgressions.

The 37-year-old is in the spotlight once again as he looks to bow out of test cricket on his own terms amid considerable doubt over his place in the side.

Former team mate Mitchell Johnson gave voice to that doubt with a sledgehammer column that highlighted Warner's waning output in tests and suggested selectors were too close to the lefthander.

While Johnson's takedown drew a scathing response from some media pundits, many in the Australian cricketing community feel a lingering discomfort more than five years on from the Newlands ball-tampering scandal.

'Sandpaper-gate' was arguably the nadir of Australian cricket in the modern era, with Warner adjudged villain-in-chief after a Cricket Australia integrity probe.

Opening partner Usman Khawaja spoke for many when he said Warner, along with fellow ball-tampering conspirators Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, had "paid his dues" by serving a 12-month suspension.

Yet plenty of fans would agree with Johnson that indulging Warner with a "hero's send-off" in the third test at his home Sydney Cricket Ground would be hard to swallow.

Warner remains saddled with a lifelong leadership ban following Newlands, despite his campaign last year to have it rescinded.

That came to nothing when he angrily pulled out of the process, accusing a Cricket Australia-appointed panel of seeking to