Former Australia cricketer Mitchell Johnson says a personal text by David Warner earlier this year played a part in him writing a recent article where he criticised the Australian batter. Johnson, in his article for West Australian, questioned Warner getting a hero’s send-off in Test cricket despite being in bad form. Notably, Warner has been selected for the first Test against Pakistan which starts on December 14.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!“I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal,” Johnson said while speaking on his podcast The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show on Tuesday (Dec. 5). “I tried to ring to try and talk to him about it, which I’ve always been open to. I know I’ve been open to the guys when I finished playing. I said if I’m in the media and writing things or saying things that you don’t like, just come and speak to me.
“It was never a personal thing then until this point. This is probably what drove me to write the article as well, part of it. It was definitely a factor. Some of the stuff that was said in that, I won’t say it. I think that’s up to Dave to say it if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there that was extremely disappointing, what he said, and pretty bad to be honest.”
Johnson revealed that the text from Warner came after he had written an article where he had questioned Warner’s form and the batter’s wife – Candice Warner – defending her husband’s place in the Test squad on a Fox Sports television show.
Johnson’s recent article created a furore in Australian cricket with several former and current cricketers sharing their views. Australia batter Usman Khawaja, who is Warner’s opening partner in Test cricket, defended his fellow batter.
Johnson had also questioned chief selector George Bailey, asking if he’s too close to players, which Khawaja termed as harsh.Â
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