Former Australia coach Darren Lehmann has boldly suggested opener David Warner should "bat five or six" in this summer's Ashes.
Warner is in the midst of a poor run of form, having averaged just 29.48 since the start of 2021, and Australia legend Ricky Ponting is among those who have suggested he should have already retired from Test cricket.
However, Lehmann believes Warner will be involved in the Ashes but should not open given he has never scored a hundred in England and averages just 26.04 across 25 innings, having particularly struggled against Stuart Broad in the 2019 series.
"David Warner, if he's in form, he's got something to add," Lehmann told SENQ's Pat & Heals. "The issue for me would be he's been there three times and hasn't made a 100.
"I thought in the last Ashes series he should bat down [the order] and bat five or six, something different, because he can really expose their bowling down the order. We just keep him as an opener… but David Warner, if he's not succeeding at the top, could bat down, you could swap Warner and [Travis] Head.
"Sometimes you've got to think outside the box to see who's going to succeed. Broad and [James] Anderson are going to be quite difficult and Warner's struggled with that in England, so whether they get him there or not will be a selectors' call."
Lehmann was Australia's coach for two of Warner's trips to England and did bat him at number six in the first innings of the third Test during the 2013 series, before pushing him back up to open in the second innings.
It remains the only time Warner has batted lower than number three across his 103 Test career. Lehmann continued: "My gut feel is they'll take him in the squad [for the Ashes], but will they play him?
"I'm not so sure. But if you take him in the squad you might as well play him, or don't take him at all."
