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Ball, conditions possible reasons behind blunting of Warner’s power

A moving ball and bowler-friendly conditions could be behind David Warner's 25 per cent drop in strike rate since his return to international cricket, according to teammate Glenn Maxwell.

Warner sits sixth on the run-scoring lists at this year's World Cup tournament, having hit two half-centuries in the opening three games.

Conservative: David Warner, seen here against India, hasn't been at his swashbuckling best yet.

Conservative: David Warner, seen here against India, hasn't been at his swashbuckling best yet.Credit:AP

Usually one of the most aggressive openers in world cricket with a strike-rate of 96.55 before his ban, Warner has gone at just 71.84 in his first three games back for Australia.

"It might be the conditions, it might be the ball," Maxwell said.

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"It seems to be doing a little bit more than I expected over here. We all expected big 500 scores and balls to be pinging away all over the place.

"But the ball has started swinging in the 5-10 over mark rather than straight away and then stopping.

"It's seaming, the bounce is a little more variable. I noticed the boys said after batting at Trent Bridge (in the victory over West Indies in Australia's second game) the wicket was up and down and hard work."

This World Cup was supposed to see the par score rise to around 350, but teams have been surprised to see totals of around 280 being enough to win most matches.

Warner spoke after his comeback game against Afghanistan about the challenges of returning from a year of almost exclusive Twenty20 cricket, where he was not required to move his feet as much.

His half-century against India on Sunday was the slowest of his one-day career, using up 84 balls for his 56 runs.

More uncharacteristic was the amount of dot balls he played.

Usually one of the busiest batsmen between the wickets, Warner playedRead More – Source

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