“Is it time to start thinking about the future?” - Mark Taylor urges selectors to take a call on struggling David Warner

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor has urged selectors to make a clear decision on the Test future of David Warner. According to Taylor, there is too much confusion over the veteran opener's place in the side and a firm decision to either back him or look beyond him needs to be made.

Warner returned home from the ongoing tour of India after being ruled out of the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy due to an elbow fracture. He was also subbed out of the Delhi Test after suffering a concussion while batting in the first innings.

The 36-year-old’s struggles in India continued as he registered poor scores of one, 10 and 15. He has a paltry Test average of 21.78 from 10 Tests in India. In fact, apart from his double-hundred against South Africa at the MCG, the left-hander has struggled in Test matches for the better part of the last two seasons.

Sharing his views on the Warner conundrum, Taylor told Nine's Sports Sunday:

"Is it time to start thinking about the future? You don't normally do it around Ashes time, normally you would do it post-Ashes. Normally you take a very settled side to England, with maybe one batter you think is going to be your future, and that's the side you pick.

"We're not quite there at the moment and they're not sure which way they are going to go.”

Incidentally, the left-handed opener doesn’t have a great Test record in England either. In 13 matches, he has scored 651 runs at an average of 26.04. He had a horror tour in 2019, averaging a mere 9.50.

---

“He has really thrown the ball over to Bailey and Cummins” - Taylor on Warner situation

Discussing the Warner issue in detail, Taylor opined that the selectors will need to take a call on him since the batter has made it clear that he wants to play until 2024. The former Aussie skipper elaborated:

"Dave has come out and said he wants to be around until 2024, so he wants to go to England later this year, he wants to play in Australia next summer.

"So he has really thrown the ball over to (selectors) George Bailey, Tony Dodemaide, (and captain) Pat Cummins, the selectors to say 'OK what do you want to do?'

"To me, the selectors have got to make a decision. Whether they take David Warner and one of probably [Cameron] Bancroft or [Matt] Renshaw to England, and Dave would be the first opener picked. Or they make a decision now and say 'Righto, we're going to take the two younger guys... We're going to make a change right now.'"

In case, Australia decide to look beyond Warner in Tests, Matt Renshaw could be a potential replacement. However, the latter did his chances no good by struggling in the first two Tests against India.

Cameron Bancroft could also be in line for a recall in the wake of his four Sheffield Shield centuries this season.