Warner dedicates century to Hughes: I always think he's at the other end with me

01/04/2017

David Warner has dedicated his pre-lunch Test hundred in the ongoing third and final Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Gound to the late Phillip Hughes, saying to him Hughes will always be at the other end when he is batting in this ground.

Hughes was hit by a rising Sean Abott delivery while batting for South Australia against New South Wales at the SCG on Nov 25, 2014 and died two days later in a Sydney hospital.

"I've said before, every time I walk out here we've got our little mate walking with us,” Warner was quoted as saying by Cricket Australia website after becoming only the fifth batsman in Test history to score a century before lunch on Tuesday (Jan 2).

“It's always in the back of my mind when I walk out here, that he's with me. I always think he's at the other end with me, so every time I score runs here or score a hundred, it's always for him.”

It's always in the back of my mind when I walk out here, that he's with me.

Warner

Warner joined fellow Australians Victor Trumper (1902), Charles Macartney (1926) and the legendary Don Bradman (1930) on the list. However, it was the first time that the feat was achieved on Australian soil – the other three Australians achieved it in England. Pakistan’s Majid Khan (1977) was the last player to achieve the feat before Warner.

Warner’s knock of 113 runs, off 95 deliveries, consisted of 17 boundaries as Australia went on to post a mammoth first innings total of 538/8 declared. It was Warner’s third century at the SCG in three matches since Hughes’ death.

The players were reminded of that incident when Australia opener Matt Renshaw got hit on his grille on Tuesday as Pakistan players rushed to him to check his well being.

"There was a lot of concern," Warner said. "You never ever want to see a player be struck like that."

Warner is looking to be more consistent in the longer format of the game in the new year.

“I started last year with a hundred here and I started again with a hundred, now I have to really capitalise on that. (Leading up to the Boxing Day Test) I was probably stressing because of the high expectations that I set. I hadn't scored as many runs as I would have liked,” he said.

“I worked as hard as I could in the nets. I was hitting them well in the nets, hitting them well in the one-dayers and just couldn't really work out why I wasn't scoring (Test) runs out in the middle.”

The hosts have already taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.

Warner dedicates century to Hughes: I always think he's at the other end with me

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