What’s The Matter With… Australia dropping David Warner again?

An English summer which began with Australia dropping David Warner has ended in the same fashion, with the 26-year-old opener left out of the squad to face England in the forthcoming one-day international series.

Rather than for landing any punches on unsuspecting members of the England top order, this time around Warner has been omitted for failing to land enough blows on the scorecard.

The left-hander has scored just one half-century in his last 11 ODIs, but his omission is somewhat puzzling given that it comes off the back of scoring 53 off just 42 balls in the second Twenty20 against England at Chester-le-Street.

With Aaron Finch tipped to star at the top of the order following his world record knock of 156 in the first T20 at Southampton, Aussie coach Darren Lehmann perhaps felt that Warner’s sometimes destructive style wasn’t needed.

The teams can barely be split ahead of the five-match series which kicks off at Headingley on Friday, with the hosts available at evens and Australia slight favourites at 4/5.

You can get the same price on both teams to win the opening one-dayer, when Lehmann is likely to turn to Finch and Shane Watson to hit the tourists’ runs.

The absence of Warner – who Lehmann has claimed will return to Australian domestic cricket in the search of some runs – might be seen to bring more harmony to the Aussie dressing room ahead of a series which, although much lower in profile than the Ashes, the visitors will hope will be able to bring them some respite.

But removing a man with 39 ODIs and a highest score of 163 from the lineup must also be seen as a huge gamble, and Lehmann and company are likely to be in the firing line should it be a move that backfires.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publication