David Warner’s opening partner Usman Khawaja has shared a funny anecdote of playing his junior cricket with Warner.
The pair first came across each other in the under-10s competition in Sydney’s East some 20-plus years ago.
Boxing Day is Warner’s 100th Test. They will walk out to open the Australian innings together.
In his column for News Corp, Khawaja said Warner was not popular with his teammates’ mums for a hilarious reason.
“He went through a stage where he would chuck cherries at some of our teammates, leaving a stain which is particularly noticeable on whites,” Khawaja wrote.
“Our teammates’ mums would blow up and urge Davey’s mum Lorraine to tell him to stop throwing cherries.”
It was at the MCG in January 2009 – in a T20 again against South Africa – that Warner burst onto the Australian scene with a man-of-the-match 89 off 43 balls. He said he still couldn’t believe he was about to play his 100th Test.
“It means the world to me – it’s the same old cliché but it’s obviously a massive occasion. For me personally, it’s going to be exciting and hopefully the emotions don’t attack,” he said.
“That young boy from housing commission in Matraville … that taught me how to fight hard and to achieve the goal that you wanted to do. I’m living every housing commission boy’s dream – I wanted to play cricket for Australia and I’m doing that now.