Not having to deal with the hostile English crowd’s abuse is something that Australia opener David Warner relished in the T20I series opener at Southampton, even though he felt “bizarre” playing in front of empty stands.

Warner was at the receiving end of England fans’ jeering during the World Cup in England last year as returned the game after serving the ball-tampering ban. The southpaw got the same treatment in the subsequent Ashes series.

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But there was none like that on Friday (September 4) during the first T20I, which Australia lost by two runs as the game played behind closed doors amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was the first time I’ve been here (England) and not got abuse. It was quite nice! From a crowd perspective, no. It was a bit bizarre,” Warner said after the match.

“You get that up and going (from the crowd). That’s why we love playing home and away. There’s home advantage and away advantage,” he added.

It was Australia’s first international assignment in nearly six months.

“But we’re always up for international cricket. We’re just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that.”

Warner said there were no excuses to offer for the defeat and his side had no answer to England’s brilliant bowling.

“Towards the end they (England) bowled exceptionally well, they knocked us over quite comprehensively,” he conceded.

Talking about Australia’s failed chase, Warner said his side could not rotate strike and hit boundaries in the middle overs.

Chasing 163 to win, the visitors could manage 160/6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

“I think we just have to try to be a little bit smarter and work out how we’re going to hit our boundaries,” he said.

“We have to try to keep rotating strike and keep finding the boundary in those middle overs.”

(With PTI inputs)