Star Australian opener David Warner felt “bizzare” playing in front of empty stands during the first T20 International but he is not complaining as it was the first time he was not “abused” by hostile English crowd.
Warner was at the receiving end of repeated crowd jeering during the World Cup in England last year following his role in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in South Africa. He got the same treatment in the subsequent Ashes series.
But there was none like that on Friday during the first T20 match which Australia lost by two runs and there were no fans present at the Ageas Bowl. It was Australia’s first competitive match in nearly six months.
“It was the first time I’ve been here (England) and not got abuse. It was quite nice!,” Warner said after the match.
Asked if the T20I felt like a game between arch-rivals England and Australia without fans in attendance, he said, “From a crowd perspective, no. It was a bit bizarre.
“You get that up and going (from the crowd). That’s why we love playing home and away. There’s home advantage and away advantage,” the 33-year-old left-handed batsman said.
“But we’re always up for international cricket. We’re just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that.”
Warner said there were no excuses to offer for the defeat and his side was outplayed by England.
“Towards the end they (England) bowled exceptionally well, they knocked us over quite comprehensively,” said Warner.
Talking about Australia’s failed chase, he said his side could not rotate strike and hit boundaries in the middle overs. Chasing 163 for a win, Australia could only score 160 for 6 in 20 overs.
“I think we just have to try to be a little bit smarter and work out how we’re going to hit our boundaries,” he said.
“We have to try to keep rotating strike and keep finding the boundary in those middle overs.”
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