David Warner 'stunned' to play an international match in an empty stadium without spectators

Veteran Australian opener David Warner felt 'stunned' to play an international match in an empty stadium without a spectator, and he had no complaints as this was the first time he was not 'abused' by arch-rivals England spectators.

After the ball-tampering gate in South Africa, when the Australian team arrived here for the World Cup last year, the English spectators made vulgar comments against them, the same happened in the Ashes series.

The things were different in the first T20 International match played in Southampton on Friday. The Australian team suffered a two-run defeat in the first match of the three-match series. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the match is being played in a bio-secure environment where spectators were not present at the Rose Bowl Stadium.

The 33-year-old left-hander said, "But yet again, you get that up and going [from the crowd]. That's why we love playing home and away. There's a home advantage and away advantage. It was a bit bizarre, but we're always up for international cricket. We're just grateful to be back playing and want to make the most of that."