David Warner, Mitchell Johnson set for tense showdown amid unsettling spat | Cricket

The tension between Mitchell Johnson and David Warner is expected to take an interesting turn as the two former Australia comrades are expected to come face-to-face in a few days’ time. Johnson, who stirred controversy by criticizing Cricket Australia’s decision to grant Warner a farewell series and shed light on the opener’s role in the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal, announced his presence in the commentary box for the upcoming Pakistan vs Australia Test series starting on December 14. This makes it likely that the two will cross paths, heightening the prospects of them running into each other.

The Daily Mail has reported that Johnson, who was axed by Triple M broadcast, insisted that will be present at the Optus Stadium in Perth, with fans eagerly anticipating a showdown between former teammates turned foes. The saga between surrounding Johnson and Warner has escalated, and reached a peak with chief selector George Bailey entering the fray. The former Australia captain cast doubt on Johnson’s mental health, a move that deeply unsettled the ex-tearaway pacer, leaving him ‘disgusted.’

As the cricketing world tried to wrap its head around why the two fell out, Johnson revealed details as to why things went south between him and Warner. The hero of Australia’s 2013 Ashes, Johnson said that he received a ‘pretty bad’ message from Warner which were ‘pretty personal’. Johnson asserted that the basis for his criticism of Warner originated from a text message he received in April, following another article he had written. In that piece, Johnson had questioned both Warner’s performance and Candice Warner’s public defense of her husband’s Test position on the Fox Sports television show, The Back Page.

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If you thought that Johnson would probably mellow seeing the pandemonium his column unleashed, you got another thing coming. Johnson in fact doubled down on his attack on Warner, exploiting the hypocrisy of CA’s chairman of selectors. He makes his point to highlight Warner’s off form lately where he is averaging a miserly 22.81 in Test matches this year.

“It sort of feels like it ties in. The selectors have talked about picking guys on form. 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,” he said. “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.”

Johnson further explained that his criticism of Bailey was partly triggered by an overnight text message he received from Australia’s chairman of selectors. This communication occurred after another recent article in which Johnson questioned the decision to withdraw Western Australia quick Lance Morris from a Sheffield Shield game to manage his workloads in preparation for the Test summer.