The Australia vice-captain can still be an aggressive player but is now teetotal and views his 2013 altercation with England’s Joe Root as pivotal to changing him as a person and a player

The Reverend David Warner, as he is now known by his Australia team-mates, has pointed to his late-night swing at Joe Root in Birmingham’s Walkabout bar four years ago as the turning point in his career, one that has led to him becoming the most feared of openers on the field while transforming him into a mild family man off it.

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The meeting on Saturday between Australia and England at Edgbaston – a match Steve Smith’s side likely need to win to join their opponents in the Champions Trophy semi-finals – was always going to lead to Warner’s infamous punch being revisited. It came after the corresponding fixture in 2013, resulting in his banishment from the start of the Ashes series that summer.

Now 30, married with two young children and teetotal to boot, Warner looks back at that night as the making of him, with the numbers since certainly supporting the theory given that 26 of his 31 international centuries have come since the Walkabout incident.

“It was definitely [pivotal] in becoming the person I am today and not just the cricketer,” said Warner, speaking four years to the day of the episode that followed England’s 48-run win and led to his being suspended, fined £7,000 and packed off to Australia’s A tour of Zimbabwe.

“We all go through periods when young and naive. It’s not about stuffing up and moving on, it’s about learning the ropes of being away on tour for such a long period of time. There are things you have to think about as a youngster: ‘What can or can’t I do?’ I probably didn’t work that out at that stage but now I have and have a great balance on and off the field.”

There are things you have to think about as a youngster. ‘What can or can’t I do?’

The incident, called “an unprovoked physical attack” by England in a statement at the time, was said to have been sparked by Warner taking offence at Root wearing a wig on his chin in the belief he was mocking South Africa’s Hashim Amla. The Yorkshireman labelled this explanation “ridiculous” before the pair went on to bury the hatchet during the 2015 Ashes series. “People didn’t look too far or deep into it to see who was in the right or wrong – and that’s forgotten,” the Australia vice‑captain said. “But that’s all gone, it’s in the past and we can tell a ‘happily ever after’ story at the end of my career.”

Warner said the pair would shake hands this weekend and might even return to the Walkabout if they offer him a couple of free soft drinks. But while his previous nickname of “the Bull” has largely been replaced by something more ethereal these days, he insists the punchy side of his character has not fully disappeared.

“It depends on what day you get me,” Warner replied. “Most of the time, I’m probably the Reverend – as they say – but look, it’s about coming out and winning games for Australia and being the best person I can [be] around the team and around people outside cricket.”

Warner comes into the England match brimming with form, having crunched more one-day runs (1,957) since the last World Cup than any other batsman and top-scored in the most recent Indian Premier League, with his lower centre of gravity and brutal cut-shot making him one of the most thrilling players to watch.

But it is of course England who can land the knockout blow on Saturday, with Australia going into the game on the back of two washouts against New Zealand and Bangladesh that have left their hopes of reaching the semi-finals hanging by a thread.

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Warner said: “England are a very good team – one of the best in the world. They’ve been playing fantastic cricket and in their own back yard, they know the conditions, they bowl well and they bat well. For us, it’s about coming out and playing our best cricket to beat them.

“I think the way Eoin [Morgan] has been handling the troops is fantastic – he has been the key and his form alongside Rooty has been fantastic. We know Jase [Roy], hasn’t been going well, but he is a key man for them at the top of the order and the same with [Alex] Hales.

“We have to respect each and every bowler that we face – they have been bowling well and used the conditions in Cardiff, we have to be mindful of that.”

The Bull of old may have looked to try a few mind-games ahead of match but that the rebranded 2017 version is now talking up his opponents is surely cause for a hallelujah.