David Warner burst of to the scene in an international 20 over fixture. When you do that you almost automatically get pigeon holed as a batsmen who is able to smack it around but lacks the mental and technical ability to don the whites at that level. What has followed, has been a pretty amazing rise to the top as an opener in test cricket.

Warner's attacking ability is wide known, but while you may be able to forge a test career as a slasher and dasher, Warner's test career is built on the foundations of test match batsmen-ship. If you bowl a good length to Warner, he is able and more than willing to let it go. As a left handed opening batsmen, he has to deal with bowlers who are able to consistently probe around a good length and hunt for an outside edge. Warner has the ability to smack boundaries with ease through the off side, but only does so when the bowler drifts outside of that good length. Otherwise he is happy to let it go, a leave is a great shot.

Those leaves tell the bowler that he'll have to get the ball closer to Warner's off-stump. The margin for error outside off-stump is minimal - slightly full and go pick the ball up from the boundary anywhere from point to long-on, too short and well good luck trying to find the ball. The odds are stacked in Warner's favour as his knowledge and confidence in defensive shots which include the leave limit your options as a bowler. His attacking skill means that anything slightly loose will be punished.

That's the interesting aspect of Warner's batting, he averages 50 with a strike rate of 73. Watch Warner bat and you would think that he's a man possessed, that he's bringing a revolution along with his huge bat, but he has the craft and skill of some of the best test match batsmen. All but two of his 11 hundreds have come with a strike rate over 100 with his two hundreds against India in Adelaide coming off 163 balls (145 runs) and 166 balls (102 runs). That's still pretty quick, but not so swashbuckling and more of a reflection on his ability to keep rotating the strike while also smacking boundaries.

I love Warner because he doesn't really appear to have a weakness. Bowl short to him and he will pull, or ramp. Bowl straight and he'll defend or clip you to the leg side, or reverse sweep you. He has so many options to deliveries that other batsmen will be forced to defend or pounce on because it's their only run scoring option.

Warner is definitely a different breed of test match batsmen. He somehow combines the virtues of test cricket, that have been etched in stone for years - patience, mental fortitude and a good defence, with some freshness. You'll see Warner play shots that you didn't even know existed, but he does with such ease and rarely looks like he's taking a chance. He has an attacking mindset, but that desire to attack and get the scoreboard ticking over is built on top of a sound defence and an intricate knowledge of his own game.

Talk to many cricketers and athletes in general and they'll say it's all about confidence. Once you perform and know that you can hang at the highest level, it's a wrap. David Warner follows that idea, but his situation is a wee bit more unique because his style is different. Warner knows that he can take apart any bowling attack in world cricket, but he's added the confidence of knowing that his systems and defence is able to withstand the best of bowling attacks around the world.

David Warner is simply the best opener in test cricket.