User:TripleRoryFan/sandbox/David Warner with the Australian cricket team in South Africa in 2017–18

David Warner played for the Australian cricket team on their tour of South Africa in early 2018.

Background
In Australia's last Test series in South Africa, Warner was named the man of the series in the team's 2-1 win, scoring 543 runs at an average of 90.50 across the tour. After that series he continued to be a regular member of Australia's national Test team, and became the team's vice-captain. From the start of 2016 to the start of the tour, Warner had played more games for Australia across all three formats than any other player.

Before the tour, Warner had played in the 2017–18 Ashes series and an ODI series against England and captained Australia's Twenty20 team in the 2017–18 Trans-Tasman Tri-Series, during which the rest of the Test squad had been rested. Though Warner had been successful in the Ashes series with 441 runs at an average of 63, his form had dwindled throughout the ODI series and the Twenty20 tournament as the packed schedule had started to take a toll on Warner. After the Trans-Tasman tournament, which Australia won, he had blisters on his hands and conceded that he was starting to fatigue mentally, having played in every single match of Australia's home season.

In response to his dip in form and to keep him well-rested ahead of the South Africa tour, Warner was given a short break midway through the tri-series to spend time with his family before returning to finish off the tournament. Due to his involvement in the tournament, Warner did not fly out to South Africa at the same time as the rest of the squad. Instead, he arrived just a week before the first Test of the series and didn't play in Australia's warm-up match against South Africa A. Going into the Test series, Warner expected the South African bowlers to be more prepared to bowl to him than the last time he went, meaning it would be more difficult for him to score runs.

Despite not playing any first-class cricket between the Twenty20 tournament and the first Test of the series, Warner did not expect to find it difficult to transition from short-form cricket to long-form cricket, saying he found the reverse more troubling.

First Test
Warner opened the batting for Australia on the first day of the Test match, and he scored 51 runs before being dismissed a minute before the lunch break.