Emotional Warner displays improved focus

A black arm-band and a look to the heavens when he scored his century - this was clearly an emotional day for David Warner. Australia's new vice-captain was eventually dismissed for 163 in what was his longest Test innings. After play, he described how it had been a difficult few months as his uncle Ray passed away in October after battling final stages of cancer.

"I lost my uncle about two and a half weeks ago," Warner said. "It was a tough stage through the back end of England, just before I came back. I was lucky to actually come back and see him. He had a bit of a struggle for about a year, diagnosed with liver cancer towards the end and then riddled with it. Unfortunately we lost him.

"He was very close to my dad. He never missed a game of ours. He would always ring my old man in the morning to see if I have got some tips for the horses, which sometimes is not too good for him. But look, he was just a character, full of life. A lot of energy. We will miss him greatly, he was so proud of just our family in general - the Warner family. That is a legacy he has left behind that I'm going to try and keep rolling on. I know he is watching up there and I know he will be proud."

That Warner batted for close to four hours in his first innings as Australia's Test vice-captain was significant, but so was the success of his new opening partnership with Joe Burns. In Australia's Test history, only Ian Redpath and Bill Lawry have scored more in their first opening partnership together - 219 against South Africa at the MCG in 1964 - than the 161 Burns and Warner managed.

It was the perfect way to start a new opening era following the retirement of the reliable Chris Rogers after the Ashes tour of England, and by scoring a classy 71, Burns repaid the faith of the selectors for choosing him ahead of Cameron Bancroft. It took Burns 20 balls to get off the mark with a boundary through a square drive, a productive shot throughout his innings.

"He came up to me and asked, 'How good is it to get off the mark?' I said, 'It is quite good mate, it's handy'," Warner said. "That is the type of bloke he is. He was very, very calm out there, he was talking to me, making sure I was okay and we communicated very well.

"We did it well in the one-day series in England, kept checking if we were playing down the ground and not outside off, trying to squirt it through cover, it's one thing he has worked very hard on in his game. He would have been disappointed not going on with it today but the sun comes up tomorrow and who knows, next innings..."

Warner himself was frustrated at getting out later in the day, though by then he had more than double the tally that Burns had managed. It was a relief for Warner to go on to triple figures after scores of 62, 52, 83, 77, 64 and 85 in the past six Test matches, on the tours of the West Indies and England.

"There was a question raised about me being more focussed than in the past," Warner said. "It was something I learned from England, not making the most of those fifties I had been getting. It was ingrained in me when I was out there to dig it out and let the heat take care of itself and let me go about my game, and that's about being patient. I definitely learned that in England.

"Broad went around the wicket and tried to draw me into drives. I adjusted today to Trent Boult, he tried to have me playing outside off. I used that knowledge very smartly to get outside of off stump. From there I felt more comfortable. At the end of the day it's about digging in and having intent. The scoreboard reflects how good a day it was."

It was such a good day that Warner even found time to make nice with the New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum, who Warner had slammed during the week for his so-called "nice guy act". However, the handshake and smile between the pair was only the result of Warner driving a Mark Craig delivery into McCullum's back when he was fielding at silly point.

"It's not a position that you like to actually see, under your eyes with a spin bowler," Warner said. "When you get a half-tracker like that, you try and definitely miss that player. I got him good but I apologised straightaway."