Paine: Warner is an “all-time great” and won’t be remembered for sandpapergate

Tim Paine has hailed David Warner as one of the few Australian cricketers to genuinely change the game in the wake of the latter’s retirement from international cricket this week.

With Australia bowing out of the T20 World Cup in disappointing fashion following a loss to Afghanistan, Warner’s glittering career in national colours came to an end.

The 37-year-old had already retired from Test and One Day cricket and flagged earlier this year that the T20 World Cup in the U.S would be his last time playing for Australia.

Former Test captain Paine, who famously took over the national side following the ball-tampering saga where Warner was painted as the architect, believes the swashbuckling opener won’t be defined in his legacy by sandpaper.

“He’s one of the all-time greats, I’ve said that comment many a time and for some reason, people want to disagree and get their backs up when I say that,” Paine told SEN Tassie Breakfast of Warner.

“But I think he changed the game of T20 cricket. Not many people finish their careers and say they actually had a real impact on the game.

“You can say Ricky Ponting, you can say Adam Gilchrist in white ball cricket, then I think David Warner took it to a new level.

“He was amazing, the way he came and attacked Test cricket as an opener at a really young age, scored really quickly and entertained crowds.”

Warner first burst onto the scene in 2009 in a T20 against South Africa at the MCG, becoming the first man in over a century to represent Australia with no first-class experience.

Since that knock of 89 off 43 – the second highest of any T20I debut – Warner has rarely been far from the headlines.

A left-hander with a unique technique, Warner finishes 5th, 6th and 1st all time for runs in Tests, ODIs and T20s respectively.

“I don’t think there will be another David Warner for a very, very long time and I think we’ll miss watching him play,” Paine added.

Warner finishes with 383 national appearances to his name.