Question to our Ozzie forumites - Before this was Warner actually disliked in Oz?
I knew his whole family when i was a kid .
His parents are very humble , decent people .
His brother Steve was a top bloke and a good cricketer .
Dave was 7 yrs my junior ....i 'babysat' him regularly on bus trips on a tour of england when his parents /others needed a brake . Basically , he was immature for a 10 yr old ....but he was 10 so you take it with a grain of salt and think thats what 10yr old kids do . I found him to be nice and good company as long as he was in a good mood, and he listened to older peoples stories better than most kids his age . If he didnt get his way he would cry at the drop of a hat and throw tantrums...again , he was 10 . But he did this stuff more than any young kid i have seen . But , (broken record here) he was only 10 .
Dave had a habit of finding guys at his brothers cricket matches and begging them to give him throwdowns . He'd do a handful left handed , then a handful right handed and looked as good doing it either way . He sub fielded on our eng tour when many people were sick ... and did a great job . He had a big arm for a midget kid !
I think , obviously , kids change into adults , they mature in intelligence and wisdom . However , many personality aspects stay with you through life. Some of the traits , both positive and negative , I still see (from a distance mind) in Dave today .
A lot of the public perception about him is probably right , but some of it, at least, cant be . There was a gentle , kind side to him as a kid which im sure is still there . And there was a side to him that made me want to strangle him . Perhaps the more things change the more they stay the same . I'll leave it up to anyone reading this to make of my comments what they will.