"I think he is the frontrunner at this stage" - David Warner on his opening partner for the Ashes

Veteran Australian opener David Warner feels Will Pucovski leads the race to open with him in the Ashes. The series will commence on December 8 in Brisbane and the focus has turned towards the auditions ahead of the action.

Pucovski, a promising young batsman, looked set to hit the ground running after undergoing shoulder reconstructive surgery. However, the 23-year-old sustained a setback after suffering his tenth concussion during training.

David Warner admitted he named Joe Burns as the frontrunner last summer but stated that it's all about opportunities. The 35-year-old thinks the current scenario puts Pucovski front and centre. Warner told 2GB's Wide World of Sports radio:

"For me, it's about giving opportunities to people who deserve those opportunities. I think there are two guys at the moment that are sitting there waiting, that's Will Pucovski and Marcus Harris. There is obviously talk about Usman Khawaja, he scored a good 150 recently, a senior player. There are opportunities there for the selectors to pick who they want. Given Pucovski got injured and he was in the team, I think he is the frontrunner at this stage."

Pucovski made his debut Test appearance last summer and scored 62 in his first innings of the Sydney fixture. The youngster has an imposing first-class record, averaging 53.41 in 24 Tests.

"I actually think people talking about my form is quite funny" - David Warner

Meanwhile, David Warner addressed concerns over his form and declared he is close to returning to his best. The veteran said as quoted by news.com.au:

"I actually think people talking about my form is quite funny; I laugh at the matter. I’ve played hardly any cricket, at the IPL I had two games, then we wanted to give all the other youngsters a crack. Then warm-up games – they are warm-up games for a reason. The other day I got my benchmark for where I should be at with my feet."

Warner has been out of form since the second leg of IPL 2021 in Dubai and failed to fire in the warm-up games as well. He struck three crisp boundaries in the 15-ball knock against the Proteas. However, Australia will need more from Warner to win the World Cup and the Ashes.