Joe Root has warned that David Warner could face a “hostile environment” if he is a member of Australia’s touring squad to England in 2019.
Warner briefly walked off the pitch while playing Grade cricket at the weekend having taken exception to comments made by Jason Hughes, the brother of Warner’s former team-mate Phillip Hughes, who died in a tragic on-field incident in 2014.
But Root, the England Test captain, suggested English supporters may prove even more vociferous in their views of Warner if he is a member of either Australia’s World Cup or Ashes touring squads next year. Warner was sent home from England in 2013 after punching Root in a bar, is currently serving a ban for his part in the Cape Town ball-tampering debacle.
“I’m sure he will have to accustom himself to what might be a slightly hostile environment from the English public,” Root said. “I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone, but time will tell as to what happens.”
While Root said he had never considered walking off the field following a negative comment from an opposition player, he declined to criticise Warner for doing so.
“It is something you don’t see very often,” Root said. “But unless you know exactly what went on out there you can’t say if it was a justified thing or not. You don’t know what was said and you don’t know what was involved and what happened out there.”
Source: ESPN Crickinfo