DAVID Warner now possesses the Australian record for the most one-day international centuries in a year and has the fourth-most tons in the format of any Australian ever.

Warner’s century tally hit 10 on Tuesday when he reached triple figures off 101 balls in a man-of-the-match performance against New Zealand in Canberra.

Six of those centuries have come this year.

That says a lot about how good Warner has been this year (1232 runs at an average of 58.66) and just how much he has improved in the 50-over format.

The left-hander now sits third on the International Cricket Council’s batting rankings in ODIs but it’s only recently that Warner found a way of thriving in the format.

Heading into 2016, Warner only had four ODI tons to his name and a middling average of 35.91 across 65 matches.

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David Warner has had a 2016 to remember. Source: Getty Images

He now has 10 centuries – only Ricky Ponting (29), Mark Waugh (18) and Adam Gilchrist (16) have more – and his average sits at a healthy 41.74 after 87 matches.

That average has never been better and among the 105 Australians who have played more than 20 ODIs only eight boast higher averages - Michael Bevan (53.58 across 232 ODIs), Michael Hussey (48.15 across 185), Adam Voges (45.78 across 31) Dean Jones (44.61 across 164), Michael Clarke (44.58 across 245), Matthew Hayden (44.10 across 160) Steve Smith (43.63 across 89) and Ponting (41.81 across 374 ODIs). Of the men ahead of him, only Hayden played as a specialist opener.

So how did Warner turn things around? Put simply, he decided to bring his Test-match game to the ODI circuit.

“I think first and foremost it’s probably been the format I reckon I struggled at early in my career,” Warner said after match.

“The last 18-24 months I’ve really worked hard on trying to construct my innings and build an innings and not play too many big shots early on.

“If the ball’s there I’m still going to go after it but I think that’s just what I put it down to, trying to construct an innings and sort of relay that Test match attitude into the one-dayers because you do get a few more balls in your area in one-day stuff where you can play through the line.”

Remarkably, that change in policy hasn’t slowed him down either. Warner’s career strike rate ballooned to 94.53 runs per 100 balls on Tuesday – the highest it has been since his first month in ODI cricket in January 2009.