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Adam Zampa, the Australian legspinner, has backed struggling skipper David Warner to regain his belligerent best in the Twenty20 tri-series clash against England at the MCG on Saturday (February 10).
In the final international fixture of the Australian summer, the hosts will be aiming to continue their unbeaten start to the tri-series after impressive victories in Sydney and Hobart. Under Warner's leadership, the revamped team has impressed in the absence of a slew of stars.
However, Warner, who was the only Test player selected for the tri-series, has failed in both matches continuing a poor run since the Ashes. He made only 73 runs at 14 in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series against England.
During the ODI series defeat, regular captain Steve Smith openly spoke about his battle with fatigue after a grueling summer and welcomed a breather ahead of a crucial Test tour of South Africa next month.
However, Australia's brains trust are adamant a tiring Warner will continue captaining the side throughout the tri-series, which shifts to New Zealand after game three.
"His (Warner) demeanour has been really good," Zampa told reporters in Melbourne on Friday. "He is probably not happy with the way he has been performing, but the energy that he is bringing with his captaincy and even in just small things at training sessions, the feedback that he gives to you individually, it's really good.
"That's the thing about 'Davey', too - the way that he fields and just the way he is as a person, he is an energetic guy," he added. "Whilst he has not been scoring runs, as many as he would like, his energy and demeanour have been really good around the group."
Zampa was dropped for game two as Australia loaded up their batting with the inclusion of Travis Head as Ashton Agar became the frontline spinner. The 25-year-old believed there was merit for the inclusion of two spinners in T20 cricket.
"That's one of the questions that I asked (selectors) the other night... a lot of the countries around the world are opting for two wrist-spinners," he said.
Zampa is likely to miss selection for game three after the slack was picked up in Hobart by allrounder Glenn Maxwell, who claimed 3-10 with his handy offspin. Maxwell continued his stellar performance with a match-winning unbeaten century to power Australia to a five-wicket victory.
Teammates at Melbourne Stars, Zampa said Maxwell deserved his success after a tumultuous summer saw him on the outer. "He has been batting really well, so I am not surprised that he played the way he did the other night," he said. "He deserves it. He has been in the media a bit lately and he has been copping it a bit, so it's nice for people to be able to stand up and do that (score a century)."
England's ultra-aggressive batting was lauded during their ODI series triumph but their bold style backfired in game two after a middle-order collapse. Zampa, who recently signed with Essex in the T20 Blast, said Australia were wary of England's high-octane approach.
"I think they (England) definitely roll the dice, but the way that these guys perform, I guess it's a no-limits approach," he said. "I think it's probably the way forward for Twenty20 cricket."
(CRICBUZZ)
