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David Warner's wife Candice hopes that her husband's Test hundred at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will push all the detractors back. Candice admitted the century came as a massive relief for Warner, who has endured a torrid time both on and off the field in recent times.
Before the ongoing Boxing Day Test against South Africa, the 36-year-old found himself under pressure after a string of low scores in the longest format.
However, he looked confident from the get-go as he walked out to bat at the MCG and reached his 25th Test ton with a boundary off the 144th delivery he faced.
Speaking on Channel 7, Candice described how the southpaw found himself against the wall for facing calls to retire following some low scores in Test cricket. She explained:
"Just incredibly proud. A sense of relief. David’s back has been against the wall and everyone has been saying he’s too old or he should retire, but first of all, to hit 8000 Test runs is a huge milestone and then to get a Test century — hopefully now people will sort of back off him a little bit."
She also lamented Warner's poor luck in the last few games and brushed aside the notion of loss of form, saying:
"Everything else is behind him now, he came here and he was ready to go. He’s had a little bit of bad luck in the last few Tests but he knew what he wanted to do and he executed it beautifully. It’s funny everybody says form slump, but that’s not the words he’s been using, it’s not the words everyone has been talking about in the change rooms."
In the 32nd over of the day, the New South Wales batter crossed 8000 Test runs, becoming the eighth Australian to reach the milestone. It was also his first Test hundred since January 2020.
David Warner and Steve Smith punish South Africa
Meanwhile, Warner, playing his 100th Test, joined hands with Steve Smith and has likely batted the Proteas out of the game. Smith came to the crease after Marnus Labuschagne was run out in the 19th over.
The pair added 239 runs by playing aggressively and easily got the hosts to go past South Africa's first-innings total of 189. While Smith holed out to Theunis de Bruyn for 85, Warner retired hurt immediately after his double hundred.
