David Warner is backed to the hilt by Michael Vaughan after Mitchell Johnson’s blistering attack: ‘He’s dominated wherever he’s played’

David Warner has received support from an unexpected source, with former England captain Michael Vaughan stepping into the batting for the opener amid recent criticism.

Warner’s place in the Australian Test team has been in doubt amid a torrid 2023 in which he averaged just over 22 runs.

Pakistan and the West Indies tour Australia this summer and many experts believe now is the ideal time to trial a potential long-term replacement for Warner.

However, the 37-year-old wants to go out on his own terms and is targeting a bye to Sydney in the New Year, a position that has seen opener and selector George Bailey come under fire from Mitchell Johnson.

Johnson wrote an inflammatory column in which he argued that Warner did not deserve the rights to the swan song, given his role in Sandpapergate.

David Warner has received support from an unlikely source: England legend Michael Vaughan.

Warner’s place in the Test team was in doubt after a series of poor performances.

But Vaughan believes Warner deserves a good send-off this summer.

“He’s one of the greatest. I don’t understand why people don’t talk about him as a great player,” Vaughn told Fox Cricket.

“The fact that he has made mistakes in the past, I think there is disagreement between him and a number of former players (and) I think there is disagreement between him and a number of Australian fans.”

“(But) if you put all that aside and look at his numbers, he only had one slip and that was his knock in England against Stuart Broad at the wicket.

“Other than that, he pretty much dominated wherever he played and he played T20 cricket, 50-over cricket and Test match cricket.” His record here in Australia is fantastic.

“You talk about great players and I go back to the late 90s and early 2000s, that great Australian team (and) not many of them have 25 Test centuries.

“Yet here we are, with a player like David Warner, three Test matches away from saying goodbye, and all the talk is ‘Should he get the opportunity to play in Sydney?’

Former England captain Vaughan says Warner deserved swan song

When Steve Smith was asked what he thought of the debate, he said: “Everyone in the media is entitled to their opinion, but you know, I’m not buying anything that’s going on between these two, so I’ll stay away ” That one.

“You look at his career and it will be incredible. I think he’s getting close to the all-time record… I think most runs come in first place.

“So it’s pretty incredible considering some of the batters that came before him were also rookies. You know, he’s been a tremendous player for over ten years.”