David Warner - Beating the Schadenfreude

His triple century confirmed the return and rebirth of a champion.

There is a Japanese saying: “The misfortune of others tastes like honey”. You will find an equivalent word in most European languages. YouTube has an entire genre of videos based on people failing and social media’s troll culture has reduced head-of-state candidates to caricatures. Friedrich Nietzsche called it an “all-too-human principle”. 

For what it means to find joy in others misery, and how common and deep-rooted this reflex emotion is, schadenfreude is a powerful word and concept. In sport, it finds a cultural shelter. The failure of a rival, or even a harmless competitor, is a completely justified reason to find joy. At the highest level of some sports, fandom is tied by the threads of schadenfreude.

When the video clippings from that Cape Town test emerged and spread across the internet, the cricket fraternity - which includes fans - should’ve felt dejected. Australia are a powerhouse test team, and to see them cheat should’ve led most of us to question where the sport was headed if the mighty felt the need to bend rules. Instead, that day, there was a hint of a smirk on the faces of everyone who wasn’t Australian. For far too long, Australian teams have been known as bullies. It was time to enjoy their hour of shame.

We softened a little when Steve Smith cried at a press conference. To see one of the best of this generation sob publicly hit the empathetic corner of our heart. Deep inside, there was also massive respect for his ability as a batsman and the knowledge that everyone is susceptible to mistakes. 

No such compassion was reserved for David Warner. Everyone, apparently including those in his own team, seemed to rejoice in his despair, and if you ask them, they will tell you that Warner had earned his jeers. He is a champion batsman who liked playing cricket on the edge - never too distant from an inappropriate personal remark or picking a fight on the field. Graeme Smith, ex-captain of South Africa, said “I never liked seeing people hurt. In terms of sympathy, in particular for me, Smith and Bancroft. David Warner always pushes the boundary lines. For a long time now, he's had this coming.” On being given year-long bans, Smith had fans waiting for him, David Warner probably only had his family.

The World Cup in England was the scene of their return. Even more poignantly, it was the Ashes series that followed right after that would measure the rust that had set over the previous nine months. Smith scored 774 runs in 7 innings, Warner scored 95 in 10. The standing ovations for Smith, at the stadiums and in front of television and computer screens, concluded with jibes at Warner’s utter inability to get runs. There were soft murmurs of “He’s finished.” 

For an athlete, and Warner too was amongst the best of this generation, playing in front of massive crowds is like the drug that keeps them sane. Take that away, for a year that too, and most of them return damaged. In the middle of his struggles against the shining Duke’s ball and Stuart Broad’s around-the-wicket line, there was a moment in the fourth Ashes test that suggested, every so slightly, that he may have turned a corner. As the Australian team were on their way out from the dressing room, a fan screamed an expletive at Warner and he responded with a “Woooo” and two thumbs up. There was also the incident where, upon being booed by the crowd near the boundary he was standing at, Warner looked at them with a smile and showed his empty pockets.

In the month and a half since the Ashes concluded, David Warner has scored 776 runs in 8 international innings with only two dismissals. Where there was once a scruffy bull waiting to unleash on you, there is now a calm spearhead who seems completely secure of his ability to score when he wants. During the T20 century against Sri Lanka, as in the test ones against Pakistan, David Warner wasn’t grasping for a powerful boundary hit. He bided his time and waited for his moments like you would expect an experienced, senior batsman to.

David Warner was in good form when he walked out to bat today morning at Adelaide. The scorecard read: Australia 302/1, Warner 166 not out, Labuschagne 126 not out. Both were coming off a big century in the previous test. In the face of a double century, and then the 250, Warner was a picture of calm, as if both the landmarks came with his name written on them. And suddenly, he was batting on 296, facing Pakistan’s tightest bowler in Mohammed Abbas. The first ball of the 120th over was only slightly short, but David Warner in form needs only an inch, never mind the David Warner armed with new-found patience and stillness.

The Adelaide Oval stood up, Warner did his trademark jump-and-fist-pump before taking a bow, and Candice Warner shed a silent tear behind her black sunglasses. Australia declared as soon as he crossed Bradman’s 334. On his way out, Warner gave his helmet away to a kid in the front row. It has taken almost 18 months, but the metamorphosis is complete. David Warner, a champion batsman, has returned as a champion cricketer.