'It's about being honest,' says David Warner. Credit:Getty Images "I don't like pointing things at people, but say for instance in the NRL or NFL or NBA if someone puts out a couple of extra thousand dollars on the table ... nine times out of 10 they do take that," Warner told Sydney's Sky Sports Radio on Monday morning, from London. "It's about being honest. You can't rule it out, you can't say no, because ... we love playing the sport we do but we also love getting paid for what we do, so if we can be honest and up front [that it is better]. If I say I'd never take it and all of a sudden I do it looks stupid on your behalf. I'm just being honest in saying it's not out of the question, and I'd certainly have to think about it." Warner agreed players from countries where central contracts are dwarfed by those on offer to top Australians would be more susceptible to offers from a rebel league. "You have three or four teams where the average wage is going to be fantastic and some other teams are going to be not as fortunate, and if you're putting them [offers] out there it's a no-brainer for some of those teams. At the end of the day people have to survive in this world, and it's either work and be paid for what you love doing or work and be paid for something you don't like doing. There's options there."

After Fairfax Media disclosed Essel's ambitions, Cricket Australia offered longer deals to some of its centrally contracted players. Pat Howard, CA's executive general manager of team performance, said the multi-year deals were designed to "deal with the environment we've got out there". Warner arrived in England last week with the rest of Australia's Test squad. He said he was not perturbed by having only scored 98 runs across his four innings in the West Indies. "It happens in cricket. You get a couple of good balls, and the hardest time for that is at the top of the order. In the Caribbean with the new ball [it is difficult], those seams are quite large, and with those wickets it can be quite challenging. That's cricket. You've got to forget about that and wait for the next innings and make sure you make the most of it," he said. Warner endorsed England's selection of Trevor Bayliss, his coach at NSW, to succeed the sacked Peter Moores as coach of England, starting with the Ashes. "He was our NSW coach and we wouldn't have wanted to let him go. It speaks enough [for his talent]. His record has been impeccable in the past few years. We've seen him take Twenty20 teams [Sydney Sixers and Kolkata Knight Riders] and NSW teams to victory. Now international recognition [of that has come from] the English team," he said.

"I think he's a fantastic coach. He says not a lot, lets guys go about their business as they do [normally] ... the way he approaches the game is just 'keep it simple'. That's how he's always been. He lets the players take control in what they know best, and that's playing a positive brand of cricket. That's where I think a lot of teams that have played under him have had success." Warner said he expected a Bayliss-led England "are probably going to play a similar brand of cricket to what we play at home". The combative opener also expressed his bemusement that Graeme Swann, who retired mid-way through England's thrashing in Australia in 2013-14, last week declared Smith's rise to top spot in the ICC test batting rankings had not dispelled his doubts about the 26-year-old's ability. "I still don't think he's got a great technique," Swann told The Guardian. Warner said such comments challenge his intent to be "a bit smarter on the field", in terms of toning down his sledging of opponents.

"It's actually quite bizarre. As I've said I want to keep quiet, but we go back to the Ashes over here [and I'm drawn back in]," Warner said. "There was a couple of funny comments by a couple of their players [during the 2013 series] when we were out there without Steven Smith, saying he wouldn't make the first Test at the Gabba. Look now, he's the best batsman in the world. It's funny how they come out with these remarks. "If they want to make statements like that in the media good luck to them, because 'Smudge' [Smith] is not a person who reads the media, and [if he did] probably would care anyway. "He's obviously in the form of his career, and I think the best is yet to come."