David Warner has started the Ashes banter early by claiming that Joe Root will need to “take the surfboard off his front leg” if England are to win the urn overseas for the first time since 2010/11.
Root is yet to score a Test hundred in Australia, with a best of 89 and an average of 35.68 across 14 Tests in the country.
The England batter recently eclipsed Australia legend Ricky Ponting as the second-highest run-scorer in Test cricket, leaving him behind only India great Sachin Tendulkar.
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Warner thinks Root may be susceptible to falling lbw to Josh Hazlewood this winter, in a series that begins in Perth on November 21, telling the BBC: “The big anchor there is Root, who is yet to score a hundred in Australia.
“Hazlewood tends to have his number quite a lot. He will have to take the surfboard off his front leg.”
However, England seamer turned Sky Sports pundit Stuart Broad wrote on X that Hazlewood has only dismissed Root lbw three times.
Root has fallen 10 times in 18 Tests to Hazlewood overall, with Australia captain Pat Cummins having removed the Yorkshireman on 11 occasions.
Australia’s final Test series before the Ashes was a 3-0 win in the West Indies, in which they skittled their hosts for 27, the second-lowest score in Tests, in the final game.
But the tourists’ batting looked shaky at points, something that will encourage England.
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“It all comes down to the bowlers,” Warner said. “If the English bowlers can put a dent in the Australia top order then they will come into the contest.”
Warner, who played 112 Tests for Australia between 2011 and 2024, scoring 8,786 runs and 26 hundreds – will play for London Spirit in The Hundred this season.
Spirit face defending men’s champions Oval Invincibles on the opening day at Lord’s on Tuesday, with every match from the tournament, men’s and women’s, live on Sky Sports.