Warner hails England 'respect' after Clarke honour guard

David Warner praised England for the respect they'd shown towards Michael Clarke in marking the Australia captain's final Test with a guard of honour during the Ashes finale at The Oval.
As Clarke walked out to bat yesterday he received a standing ovation from a packed crowd at the south London ground while the England players, led by captain Alastair Cook, formed a guard of honour as he approached the crease.
Thousands of miles away in Colombo, Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara received a similar tribute in his last Test against India.
"I think that he deserved it," said Warner of the reception Clarke received on the first day of the fifth Test on Thursday.

"All the greats of the game deserve that credit. We saw what India did for Sangakkara as well and he (Clarke) deserves that.
"He's been a fantastic captain, a fantastic leader and good team man for us, especially over the few years I've been part of his career," added Warner.

"He thoroughly deserved that today and it was great respect from the English cricket team."
- 'No-brainer' -
================
For England all-rounder Ben Stokes the gesture was easy to make.
"It's something we discussed, you've got to pay respect to someone who's played as well as he has, so it was a no-brainer," said Stokes.

But while Warner made 85 in a much improved Australia batting display that saw the tourists, who've already lost the Ashes at 3-1 down in a five-match series, end the first day on 287 for three, all the tributes paid to Clarke could not end his miserable run of low scores.