Ashes 2019 | David Warner is the most mentally tough cricketer I know, says Tim Paine

Ashes 2019 | David Warner is the most mentally tough cricketer I know, says Tim Paine

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Australian skipper Tim Paine has backed misfiring opener David Warner to come good ahead of the third Test at Headingley. The left-handed opener has thus far had a disastrous series, failing to reach double digits in four attempts after having fallen victim to Stuart Broad in three of them.

There are very few cricketers in this world whose place would not come under threat after notching up four single-digit scores in a row. One such player is David Warner, who, thanks to his previous exploits, has received immense backing from several players, including his captain Tim Paine.

Paine has hailed the out-of-form opener as the most mentally tough cricketer he's seen, stating that he is not worried about the southpaw's form and that he is due a score. He also credited the match-winning abilities of the opener and remained confident that he will turn things around come Thursday.

"David Warner hasn't hit his straps yet and I notice people getting a bit trigger happy on that subject, but I am not worried," Paine wrote in a column for the newspaper Australian.

"We are 1-0 up in the series and he hasn't got out of the blocks. He is a match winner... he is also the most mentally tough cricketer I know. He is due a score and that is a dividend I am looking forward to," he added.

The skipper also expressed his excitement over speedster Jofra Archer, stating that he was chuffed to see a talented young cricketer take international cricket by storm. However, he played down any fear factor surrounding the pacer, saying that the Aussies have grown up seeing express pace, pointing towards his team's pace trio's competitiveness in the nets.

"It's fantastic to see a young cricketer with so much talent come onto the scene and it was a bit of a buzz to face him at Lord's," he spoke of Archer.

"He's fast for sure, but in Australia we've been brought up facing guys of his pace. Every time we have a net (session) we have Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson coming at us like we are the opposition." he added.

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