Australia are optimistic that David Warner will have a big Ashes and have backed him to deliver at the top of the order. Selectors had equivocated on whether the lefthander was locked in for the Ashes series after a difficult tour of India but head coach Andrew McDonald offered a firm endorsement on Wednesday.

Andrew McDonald told Australian radio station SEN –

“We’re optimistic with what Dave’s got left, we’ve picked him in the squad. And we feel he’ll play a really big part in the Ashes and the World Test Championship.”

David Warner scores his fourth IPL half-century for Delhi Capitals ahead of  Ashes in England | CODE Sports
‘We’ve picked Warner in the squad and…’, Andrew McDonald

Andrew added – “He’s an important part of that squad. And if he wasn’t, we would’ve had a clear checkpoint after the WTC going into the Ashes.”

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“That’s not the case, we’ve picked our squad for the first two Ashes tests as well, so he’s clearly in our plans and ready to go.”

Andrew McDonald further added –

“He’s in a good head space. I spoke to him as recently as yesterday, and he’s ready to go. He’s really excited to get back into the camp.”

Warner finished the IPL for Delhi Capitals with 516 runs at an average of 36.86, down on his career average of 41.54.