England fast bowler Stuart Broad has backed David Warner to ‘come back strong’ after dismissing the Australia opener seven times during the Ashes series.
Warner endured a shocking run with the bat last summer, going for three successive ducks and contributing just 95 runs in ten innings.
Broad was particularly effective against the 33-year-old but insists Warner will respond well to the poor series in this winter’s Tests against Pakistan and New Zealand.
England’s second leading wicket-taker said: ‘It was a bit of a dream summer on that front.
‘I had done a lot of planning pre-Ashes so to be able to have that sort of success against your opposition means you got something right.
‘[Warner] is a world-class player and I have played against him for such a long time, so to find something that worked against him this summer gave me quite a bit of professional satisfaction.
‘I felt he scored too much through the off side against me so I just wanted to hit his stumps a lot more.
‘When I got him lbw and bowled those were the ones that pleased me the most because those were the ones I was visualising most pre-game.
‘If you get the ball to nip back up the slope at Lord’s it is a bit of luck, a bit of fate but the ball has got to be in the right area to hit the stumps.
‘The next day he came up to me and gave me a nudge in the ribs like ‘that was a good one!’ We have a lot of respect for each other which is nice in professional sport.
‘He will come back strong – he scored a hundred in his first innings back in Australia and I expect him to continue to do that.’
With 467 wickets, Broad currently sits seventh on the all-time list of wicket-takers in Test cricket.
BROAD GETS WARNER
It takes a review but Warner edges behind to Bairstow and that is massive!
Watch #TheAshes live on Sky Sports Cricket now or follow here: https://t.co/9nrJgYF5SQ pic.twitter.com/TFAw7R1kX0
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 3, 2019
The 33-year-old is not expected to be part of England’s squad for the next Ashes series in 2021-21 but said: ‘I’m someone who never really looks too far ahead.
‘I think if you look towards the end of your career you slow down as a sportsman. You stop trying to improve, stop driving yourself forward.
‘I look a month at a time at the moment – I feel fit, I feel fresh, my fitness testing is as strong as it has ever been, which is a good sign.
‘That old saying is that age is just a number and I feel really good.
‘Jimmy is an inspiration for me – he is 37, he is in physically great condition and he has bowled the best he has bowled over the last three years of his whole career.
‘Why can’t I do that? Why can’t I play to that sort of age and keep improving? That’s got to be my driver, the thing that pushes me on.’
