Mitchell Johnson has blamed a text message from David Warner for triggering his scathing attack on his former Australia cricket teammate.
Johnson wrote in his column for The West that Warner has not ‘warranted a hero’s send off’ this summer despite the opening batsman’s long and decorated career.
The comment has torn open old wounds between the pair, after Johnson had earlier called for his former teammate to be dropped from the Test side during The Ashes, sparking a response from Warner’s wife Candice.
Warner intends to retire from test cricket with a farewell game at the SCG in January in the New Year’s match against Pakistan.
In his column Johnson said Warner does not deserve a stage-managed farewell due to his central role in the sandpaper scandal of 2018 which seriously damaged the reputation of Australian cricket.
But Johnson has now claimed the motivation for his uncompromising piece was an acid-tinged text message that Warner sent his former teammate in April.
Johnson had earlier called for his former teammate to be dropped from the Test side during The Ashes , sparking a response from Warner’s wife Candice
Johnson has now claimed the motivation for his uncompromising piece was an acid-tinged text message that Warner sent his former teammate in April
‘I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal and I tried to ring him to talk to him about it,’ Johnson said on The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show podcast.
‘It was never a personal thing then, until that point. That is what prompted me to write the article or part of it as well. It’s definitely a factor. Some of the things that he mentioned in that message.
‘I won’t say it because that’s up to Dave to say if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there which was extremely disappointing, what he said, and pretty bad to be honest. That sort of was a bit of a driver.’
Johnson also lashed chief selector George Bailey in his column, suggesting he was too close to the playing group to make the tough calls and questioning why WA paceman Lance Morris was being rested from Sheffield Shield games.
‘He’d sent me a message after the Lance Morris article. It was just a bit condescending. Typical George sort of stuff. When you receive at odd hours in the morning, it was disappointing,’ Johnson said.
Johnson has since teed off on Bailey’s public response where he stated: ‘I hope he (Johnson) is OK’.
Johnson took that response as a dig at his previous mental health issues.
‘To ask if I’m OK [by George Bailey] because I’ve had mental health issues is pretty much downplaying my article and putting it on mental health, which is quite disgusting,’ he said.
‘I’m fine. I’m not angry. I’m not jealous. I’m just writing a piece that for me I felt like I needed to write.
‘It’s basically having a dig at someone’s mental health and saying that I must have something going on, a mental health issue, has made me say what I’ve said. That’s not the truth.’
Johnson does not believe Warner deserves a heroes send off because of his role in Sandpapergate
Warner and Johnson were teammates, pictured here at a charity day during the 2015 Ashes
Johnson also doubled down on his attacks on Warner in the podcast.
‘It sort of feels like it ties in. The selectors have talked about picking guys on form,’ Johnson said.
‘If you look at David’s form, because the article is about him. His form in England wasn’t great. So you sort of go that’s not picking someone on form.
I’ve written good articles about David as well. I’ve always said that I’m a very different thinker. I’m not a traditional cricket player. I didn’t play a lot at a young age. I didn’t grow up with it as much as others. I always questioned things and had a different thought process.
‘And I probably was set off by receiving a message from him [Bailey] at odd hours in the morning and him not showing the respect to make a phone call. That’s pretty much that.’
Johnson was not happy that national head of selectors George Bailey did not call him and apparently called his mental health into questions
James Erskine, Warner’s agent, has labelled Johnson’s tirade ‘a bit sad’ and defended his client’s career record, despite his role in encouraging the use of hidden sandpaper to illegally alter the ball during a test series in South Africa in 2018, which resulted in a lengthy ban from the sport and a tearful apology.
‘Mitchell Johnson was a fine player … and he’s entitled to his opinion. But at the end of the day what surprises me is all these ex-cricketers who basically have a crack at the current lot,’ he said on SEN’s Sportsday.
‘It’s a bit sad in a way. I’m sure they have an opinion but I think it’s to get a headline.
‘If anyone listening thought that David Warner wanted to play Test cricket for Australia if he didn’t think he was up to it, they’re wrong. He’s been a battler all his life, he’s a guy from the wrong side of the tracks, he’s a guy that’s gone and scraped a living and been very successful at it.
‘But he doesn’t want a swansong, he thinks he’s the best guy for the job. I think the figures show it.’
Former Australia test captain Tim Paine felt Johnson had gone too far in his criticism of Warner.
‘Some of his points about his (Warner’s) stats and his position in the team and him getting a little bit of extra time were probably ruined by the personal nature of it,’ Paine said.
‘And bringing sandpaper back into it. And saying David being a person who used his leadership role for power. I played with David and he certainly didn’t do that.
‘I thought the article was pretty good. There were a lot of questions that people wanted to ask and it created a lot of interest and a lot of thought, even from someone like me.
‘I thought he just went a bit too far on some things that it ruined it for me. The George stuff, I just found it a bit unnecessary.’
Michael Clarke, who captained both players when they were in the national team together, said there had not been any antagonism between them while he was skipper.
‘Dave is a strong character, Mitch is a strong character, (they) went hard at each other in the nets,’ Clarke said.
‘I saw that but I couldn’t sit here and say they had beef against one another when we played.’
Clarke stressed the importance of former players with media jobs being able to speak their mind, but suggested Johnson should offer an apology if Warner was hurt by his comments.
‘When you’re in a (media) role like this is if you have an opinion and it’s based on what’s best for the team I think you should go with that, but it should never be personal, or I try not to make it personal, and if it comes across that way I guess you try and apologise for it because you don’t mean it like that.’
