The day I played club cricket against David Warner 2.0
UTS North Sydney District Cricket Club | November 19, 2024
It was blockbuster news when the then-exiled test stars David Warner and Steve Smith returned to Sydney Grade Cricket amid their 12-month ban for “sandpaper gate” in Cape Town.
On this particular day, David Warner turned up to a postcard-perfect North Sydney Oval to take on a UTS North Sydney side, which included the then-Fox Sports scribe, Sam Alexander.
Alexander penned a piece the following Monday that would be Fox Sport’s second most clicked article of the year, but it didn’t come without backlash: “I played club cricket against David Warner on Saturday – here is the type of bloke he is.”
Looking back on the day and the aftermath of his article, Alexander wrote this for CricConnect through the eyes of reflection:
When I woke up on October 22, 2018, I had no idea my life was about to change.
This was no ordinary day – this was the day I come toe-to-toe with my idol, David Warner.
I had always looked up to Warner as a man unbecoming of those around him, his astute nature, character and general likeability was, and is, unparalleled.
Alexander in action.
Despite my nerves as we stepped onto North Sydney Oval, I was confident of bowling to the best of my ability and coming away with a famous North Sydney win.
How wrong I was.
Bigger not only in stature, but purposefulness, than life itself, Warner strut to the crease, oozing confidence, but something else – tenacity.
Ball One – Four
Ball Two – Six
Arrogance. Composure. Runs.
This was going to be a long day.
However, as the old saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Warner was gone soon after for a well-compiled 10-runs.
Watching how Australia’s most famous opener carried himself both on, and off the field stirred something in me.
“There’s a yarn in this,” I thought to myself.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Following our comprehensive flogging I sat down at my trusty Fox Sports Hot Desk and started scribbling.
“Gold,” I thought to myself.
“This thing writes itself!” I quipped to no one.
All of Warner’s witticisms, barbs and general conduct came flooding back to me. This was a story that NEEDED to be told.
The Australian public did not agree.
“What a load of bloody dribble (sic) who wrote this crap..!!! (Poo emoji).” Read the top-rated comment with 445 reactions
.“I’m actually pissed I took the time to read this … does anyone know how I go about getting compensation from fox sports (sic) for wasting my time?” read the second, boasting 372 reactions.
These were no match for the sharp but equally hurtful “Possibly the worst news article ever written.” – Thanks Jordan Lundgren, your support means a lot mate.
Despite the onslaught of abuse and having to delete my Facebook page, the office was up in arms.
These clowns didn’t realise with every click, with every second spend reading this yarn, our pockets were being filled with cash.
Idiots!
One thing this yarn did achieve though was invoking the ire of our friends across the hemisphere – our famous ancestors – the Poms.
Despite most of their display pictures featuring blokes basically translucent in skin tone, their fire-in-the-belly couldn’t be questioned.
“What a dickhead. Only one of you has cried on national television though (I assume),” Thanks Kris J, you assume incorrectly though brother.
“True to form he’s a c*nt”
“To summarize; he’s still a prick…” (this was the first form of punctuation in a reply I’d seen).
The article was one I never expected to take off, and one that put me at the top of every CA-affiliated cronie, Warner fan and general ‘hanger-oners’ shit-list.
Would I do it again?
Bloody oath.
Do I have any regrets?
Nah bra
Is my Facebook page active again?
You bet it is.
Is Warner still a flog?
The Jury’s still out.
Thanks for reading, again.
– Sam Alexander
As Alexander explains, there was in fact a yarn in this, and here it is.
For the original visit: https://bit.ly/40PKzk9
