Former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson didn't mince his words in an extraordinarily brutal attack on David Warner over the latter's “farewell” Test series against Pakistan. Warner, a year back, had announced that he’d like to retire from Tests in front of his home crowd in Sydney.
He was named in the Australia Test squad for the first of the three matches against Pakistan. This match will be played in Perth from December 14-18. And if Warner manages to retain his position for the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground commencing on Boxing Day, he stands a chance of realizing his desired farewell on his home ground in Sydney from January 3 to 7.
In his Sunday column in The West Australian, Mitchell Johnson queried both Warner's public desire for a Test farewell and why it was being accommodated by the selectors despite his form over the last two years.
Notably, Warner has averaged 26.74 in his last 36 Test innings. In December 2022, Warner did smash a double century against South Africa in Melbourne but inconsistency has marked Warner's recent games in the longest format.
Johnson also accused him of not fully owning his part in the ball-tampering scandal of 2018.
"It's been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal. Now the way he is going out is underpinned by more of the same arrogance and disrespect to our country. As we prepare for David Warner's farewell series, can somebody please tell me why?
Why a struggling Test opener get to nominate his retirement date. And why a player at the center of one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricket history warrants a hero's send-off? What will fans bring for Warner? Bunnings would sell out of sandpaper,” Johnson wrote as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
AUS v PAK 2023-24: Australia squad for 1st Test against Pakistan announced; David Warner included
“Warner certainly isn't Australia's Test captain and never deserved to be for that matter. He ends his career under a lifetime leadership ban. Yes, he has a decent overall record and some say is one of our greatest opening bats. But his past three years in Test cricket have been ordinary, with a batting average closer to what a tailender would be happy with.
It's the ball-tampering disgrace in South Africa that many will never forget. Although Warner wasn't alone in Sandpapergate, he was at the time a senior member of the team and someone who liked to use his perceived power as a 'leader'. Does this really warrant a swansong, a last hurrah against Pakistan that was forecast a year in advance as if he was bigger than the game and the Australian cricket team?” Johnson emphasized.
Johnson was Warner's team-mate from 2009 to 2015 when Johnson retired. The duo were also teammates when Australia won the 2015 World Cup.
