'It just sells papers and clickbait': David Warner responds to Ashes banter
Warner enters what is likely to be his final tour of England with the one-off ICC World Test Championship Final against India at The Oval his first assignment ahead of the eagerly awaited battle for the urn in a five-match Ashes series.
The left-hander endured a tough time during his last Ashes tour, with long-time nemesis Stuart Broad among the many England bowlers to dominate the 36-year-old and restrict him to just 95 runs at an average less than 10.
Marnus Labuschagne on preparations for WTC Final and the Ashes
Australia batter Marnus Labuschagne on how he is preparing for the ICC World Test Championship Final and the Ashes
Broad has already got on the front foot by declaring he is ready to renew his rivalry with Warner at the Ashes and a host of England teammates have joined the party with their own bold predictions for the series.
But Warner refrained from getting involved in a war of words with Broad and believes any pre-series banter from the England camp will count for little when the Ashes commences in Edgbaston on June 16.
"It just sells papers and clickbait, so I won’t be getting involved in any of that stuff," Warner said.
"I will leave it to themselves."
Warner is expecting the Ashes to be played in good spirits and thinks the days of unnecessary banter between Australia and England is a thing of the past.
"Today there is no real banter in the field," Warner added.
"It is just about playing quality cricket and trying to get the upper edge on each other.
"It is a lot more connected these days than before which I think is great for the game."
Warner's first port of call prior to the Ashes is the one-off Test against India that will decide which team claims their first World Test Championship title after New Zealand's victory in the inaugural WTC Final in 2021.
The left-hander only managed 26 runs from three innings against India during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has had a lean run of form of late aside from a brilliant 200 in what was his 100th Test match when taking on South Africa in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
But Warner received a glowing endorsement from close friend Usman Khawaja, with the opener expecting the runs to flow for his fellow veteran in the World Test Championship Final against India.
"I have seen him bat in the last couple of days and, I don’t want to jinx him, but he is looking good,” Khawaja said.
"This is probably the best I have seen him look in the nets for a while.
“That doesn’t always correlate to runs, but if we are any chance of Davey Warner scoring runs this could be it.
"He always plays his best when his back is against the wall too.
"We saw when he scored a double century in his 100th game when everyone was writing him off and telling him he was done and it was his last game and he went out and gets 200.
"You never write off a great player, so I am expecting runs."