David Warner all but guaranteed his farewell tour will go exactly as he hoped, charging to a quickfire century against Pakistan on the opening day of the NRMA Insurance Test summer.
Warner, whose spot in the team was the subject of significant scrutiny in the build-up to this Test, celebrated a chanceless ton with what might have been a gesture to his critics after needing just 125 balls to get to the milestone.
The opener brought it up with his 14th four, ramping first-gamer Aamir Jamal over the slips, before a furious series of celebrations including a forceful salute towards the northern side of the ground.
"There's going to be criticism, but you've got to take that, and there's no better way to silence them than by putting runs on the board," he told Fox Cricket at tea.
After moving into fifth spot on Australia's all-time Test run-scoring charts by passing Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden, Warner was finally out in the final session hooking debutant Aamir Jamal for 164 from 211 balls.
Even before this year's Ashes series got underway, Warner had expressed his desire to keep playing until the end of this home Pakistan series and have a fairytale send-off in his home Sydney Test .
Selectors made no guarantees, only saying the 37-year-old remained in their best XI for the first Test.
After his first-day fireworks, it now appears certain they will continue to see it that way until the end of the series.
Warner's 26th Test hundred means he has now scored centuries at all seven Australian Test venues he has played at, adding Perth Stadium to the nearby WACA Ground, along with the SCG, MCG, Gabba, Adelaide Oval and Bellerive Oval.
Steve Waugh and Matthew Hayden are the only others to have passed triple-digits at as many Australian grounds.
Warner could yet bow out having equalled Allan Border's mark of 27 Test centuries, which he is now one away from. Only six Australians have more Test tons, and among Australian openers, only Hayden (30) has more.Hayden's record as Australia's most prolific Test opener is also under threat. Warner, who has scored 39 of his 8,651 Test runs from No.3 and 6, is now just 13 runs away from passing Hayden's Australian benchmark of 8,625 runs from that position.
Pakistan will be having nightmares about bowling to Warner, who is averaging nearly 90 against them with six centuries in 17 Test innings.
Speaking before play, Warner insisted the scrutiny over his position in the side – which reached a crescendo with an explosive column in The West Australian newspaper by former teammate Mitchell Johnson – did not bother him.
"I've never really felt pressure,"
said Warner, who has averaged a tick over 30 in Tests since the start of 2021, before today. "When you get out there you might get a little bit of nerves, but I don't feel the pressure when I go out there.
"I think everyone (thinks) now that it sort of adds fuel to the fire for me when I go out there – but that's not the case either.
"When you're out there, you're just in your zone, you forget about what's out there … your focus is on that next delivery and then running hard between wickets. That's what you talk about with compartmentalising."