Heading west

During the innings break at the WACA tonight, certain commentators made a big deal out of the idea that Warner "hasn't played here", and "certainly hasn't played here for NSW". That would be news to Warner and his NSW team-mates, and indeed so far he is doing better tonight than some with much more local experience. I wonder whether Slater and co. got caught up in the "hasn't played a first-class game" hype, which is really more to do with the selection policy in different forms of the game than how early Warner was picked.

Of course, the depth of batting talent in NSW, especially at the top of the order, is also relevant. Ian Chappell has acknowledged this when insisting that Warner should be given a chance to prove himself in the longer form. He has a point, and as Warner's last outing at the WACA shows, there's no need to assume it would be at the expense of an opener. Mind you, such an assumption wouldn't be as silly as the fuss made over another NSW opener who is certainly no stranger to the WACA. Even this morning, long after the first stories appeared, the radio news was reporting that Katich would go down the order to number 3 to allow Jaques and Hughes to show their stuff. Hardly a surprise - he hasn't been a "NSW opener" recently, and in the end he came in at second drop!