The Warner way

In the last two years (since November 2013), David Warner has scored 2804 runs in 45 Test innings at an average of 63.72, with 12 centuries; he has also taken bowling attacks apart during this period, scoring his runs at a strike rate of 79.74. His last six scores in Tests read thus: 64, 85, 163, 116, 253, and 24 - 705 runs, at an average of 117.50. That four other batsmen have scored 1000-plus Test runs in the last two years at a higher average only indicates that this is a rare passage when several batsmen have upped their game simultaneously, but it's clear that Warner belongs at the highest level among Test batsmen. For a player who started as a short-format specialist, that in itself is a huge achievement.

Since coming into Test cricket, Warner hasn't had a poor year: in the period he has been around as a Test player, his lowest average in a calendar year was 39.52, in 2013; in the other four years he has averaged more than 40, though the numbers have really taken off in the last couple of years. In the 14 series he has played so far, ten times he has averaged more than 40, which is remarkable consistency for a batsman whose style of batsmanship was initially thought to be too risky for Test matches.

However, it's only in the last couple of years that Warner has taken his Test batting to another level. After 22 Tests, his average was marginally below 37, and he had scored only three hundreds from 40 innings. During that period, there was a spell of 21 successive innings when he went without a Test century, even though he went past 50 seven times.

Now, he is making up for that lean spell with a vengeance: in 45 innings since the start of the home Ashes series in 2013-14, Warner has passed 50 on 23 occasions, of which 12 have been converted into hundreds. He has scored twice as many runs in his last 23 Tests as he did in his first 22.

In the last two years (since November 2013), 32 batsmen have scored 1000-plus runs. Of these 32, nine have averaged more than 60, while 15 have a 50-plus average, and 26 have averaged 40 or more. Warner ranks fifth in terms of averages, but leads in terms of hundreds with 12 from 23 games, one ahead of his team-mate Steven Smith. Both have excellent conversion rates, and have been the cornerstones of Australia's batting over the last couple of years. Where Warner stands out even more, though, is in his ability to score quickly: his strike rate is nearly 80, which is well ahead of anyone else in the list below.

All these runs that Warner has scored in the last couple of years have put him in a select group of 28 openers, including six Australians, who have scored 4000 or more runs in Tests. Of those 28, only three have better averages, and all of them played before 1960: Herbert Sutcliffe (average 61.10), Len Hutton (56.47) and Jack Hobbs (56.37). Warner's strike rate of 76.23 is next only to Virender Sehwag's 83.10, among these 28. And of the Australian openers with 4000-plus runs, Warner's average is currently the best, with Matthew Hayden next. Justin Langer, Bill Lawry, Mark Taylor and Michael Slater, the other Australian openers in that club, all average in the 40s.

Warner has been outstanding in the last two years, but there remain areas he will want to improve. Over his entire career, his average at home is a stunning 61.61, but overseas it drops by almost 20 runs, to 41.90. Among these overseas countries, Warner has flourished in South Africa, averaging 90.50 from six innings there in 2014, but his overall numbers in England and Asia are less impressive: in 27 innings he has only one century, and an average of 36.66. Even so, his stats are moving in the right direction: in his last two series in these regions - one in the UAE and one in England - his average has lifted to 50.63 from 13 innings, with seven 50-plus scores; in 14 innings before that (eight in India and six in England) he averaged 23.78. Warner and Chris Rogers were Australia's two most consistent batsmen during their disappointing 2015 Ashes campaign. Even though most of Warner's runs came in the second innings, when the pitches had eased up a bit, he still had five fifties from nine innings, and an average of 46.44 in a series where most other Australian batsmen struggled for consistency.

Being an opener, Warner has regularly faced the best bowlers at their freshest, and his record against most of them is pretty good. James Anderson and R Ashwin have had the upper hand against him, but Warner has handled most of the other top bowlers quite well: he averages 50 against Stuart Broad, 59 against Dale Steyn, 86.50 against Trent Boult and 203 against Morne Morkel.

His overall numbers show a relative weakness against spin, which isn't unexpected given he has played most of his cricket in Australia. Warner is only 29 now, and over the next few years will get several more opportunities to improve his numbers overseas, and against spin. Along with Smith, Williamson, Joe Root and a handful of others, Warner will clearly be one of the key batting names over the next five years.

Warner's head-to-head stats v top bowlers

Bowler	Runs	Balls	Dismissals	Average	SR
Morne Morkel	203	204	1	203.00	99.50
Tim Southee	131	166	1	131.00	78.83
Trent Boult	173	188	2	86.50	92.00
Graeme Swann	178	273	3	59.33	65.17
Dale Steyn	176	187	3	58.66	94.00
Vernon Philander	113	173	2	56.50	65.17
Stuart Broad	251	352	5	50.20	71.17
Ishant Sharma	121	194	3	40.33	62.33
Umesh Yadav	147	118	4	36.75	124.50
James Anderson	171	292	7	24.42	58.50
R Ashwin	115	248	6	19.16	46.33

Warner v pace and spin in Tests

Versus	Runs	Balls	Dismissals	Average	SR
Pace	3105	3878	52	59.71	80.00
Spin	1100	1672	29	37.93	65.67