Sydney, Oct 13 (IANS) Former Test opener David Warner has dismissed suggestions that England’s “Bazball” approach will influence the outcome of the Ashes in favour of the visiting side, backing hosts Australia to retain the urn.

England haven’t won an Ashes series since 2015. They haven’t won a Test in Australia since 2011. Warner made a bold prediction that Australia will win the Ashes 3-1 even if skipper Pat Cummins misses the opening Test in Perth.

Speaking at Kayo Sports and Fox Sports’ Summer of Cricket launch in Parramatta, Warner was asked which team’s style would reign supreme in the Ashes beginning on November 21 in Perth. “The Australian way because we’re playing for the Ashes and they’re playing for a moral victory,” he said. “There’s your headline.”

“I’ll just stick with 4-nil,” he added when pressed for a series prediction. “I think 4-nil. There’s going to be a washout somewhere; it’s generally Sydney. “4-nil. It’s going to be a great series. All dependant on the captain (Pat Cummins). If the captain doesn’t play, they might win one game. If Cummo’s (Cummins) there, 4-nil. If not, they probably win one game only.”

But Warner also warned Australia to not poke English captain Ben Stokes. “I had the fortunate privilege to share a change room with him when he was younger and he has evolved into a serious cricketer and a fantastic leader,” he said.

“If we can sort of not poke that bear and get him up and about, I think that will help the Australians enormously. But I do want to see some bantering out on the field and I want to see them going at each other a little bit – obviously not at Stokes – because that is what creates that energy and involvement in the game.

“I think that is where the war of words comes out. Generally it is someone like myself who is starting it, but I want to see someone else in the (Australian) camp start something, whether it is Heady or someone else.”

Warner also suggested that Marnus Labuschagne’s prior experience and success in the Test arena put him firmly in contention for next month’s Ashes series opener and also backed young star Sam Konstas to remain at the top of the order for the first Ashes match.

“Marnus has obviously come out of the blocks very well. When you’ve got a lot of Test cricket under your belt, you know what he’s capable of and you know what he can do. When someone’s averaging 50 in Test cricket, you’ve probably got to go back to that,” he said.

Labuschagne opened the batting for Australia with Usman Khawaja in the World Test Championship final loss to South Africa at Lord’s in June, before the latter was axed for the West Indies tour in June-July after making scores of 17 and 22.

Warner called for Konstas to open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja for the Ashes despite a recent dip in form. The young New South Welshman, who turned 20 last week, endured a torrid tour of the West Indies, accumulating 50 runs at 8.33 across the three Tests.

Konstas, however, struck a composed 109 and an unbeaten 27 in the first multi-day game against India A in Lucknow. The main point of contention for Australia has been whether the selectors would persist with Konstas or recall Marnus Labuschagne to the top six.

“I’d like them to try and stick with Sam, give him a crack. He scored that hundred in the Australian A series. I thought he batted outstandingly there. I don’t think we’ve seen exactly what we know Sam Konstas can do. It’s a short-term fix if they want to try and find someone else … but there’s no reason why Sam Konstas can’t do that,” said Warner.

–IANS

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