David Warner: Change in bat size won’t affect my game

ICC's restrictions are "not going to make a difference at all," the opener says.

David Warner at a press conference in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

Despite Australia’s series loss, the smile on David Warner’s face was hard to miss as he addressed the scribes at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday morning. Ahead of his 100th One Day International (ODI), Australia’s swashbuckling opener tackled all beamers at ease.

He was quick enough to state that the change in bat sizes will not affect his game.

The International Cricket Council’s new rule puts a restriction on the bat sizes. From Thursday, the bat dimensions will be reconfigured to an edge limit of 40mm and depth of 67mm, but for only those series that begin on September 28 or later. While there were speculations that Warner’s Twenty20 International bat exceeds the depth specifications, the Aussie put speculations to rest, claiming that he has already changed his bat.

“My bats have already been changed. I’ve been using them for the last couple of weeks. I got used to it in Bangladesh,” Warner said, adding that he has picked up the same bat that he started his career with. “I just basically took it down to my bat maker and said, ‘We just got to go back to what we started with.’ It didn't really affect me then, so I don't think it would affect me now,” the Australian said.

‘Misconception’

The reconfiguration of the bat size was due to ICC’s apprehensions over the game getting tilted too favourably towards batsmen.

Warner, however, dismissed the correlation between bat sizes and hitting ability as misconception. “I think everyone is sort of been misled in a way where they think the big bats clear the fences easier than what the old bats used to. From where I stand on it, basically, we were hitting sixes with the bats five-six years ago and still hitting sixes today,” he said.

When the ICC had initially proposed the idea of changing bat sizes a few years ago, Warner had defended the bat sizes. But ahead of Australia’s fourth ODI against India, the 30-year-old made it clear that the sizes won’t make much of a difference to a player’s style of play. “At the end of the day, you have to use what you're given and it's not going to make a difference at all,” Warner said.