Issues Down Under as former Australia cricketer Johnson bashes Warner

Former Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson took a sensational swipe at ex-team mate David Warner this weekend, questioning whether he deserved a “hero’s send-off”.

Warner has been a long-standing opener for the Baggy Greens but said he would retire from the Test format of cricket after his side’s series against Pakistan next month.

But Johnson has accused Warner of trying to organise his own farewell, stating that his role in the ball-tampering fiasco hasn’t been fully “owned”.

Warner a hero?

“It’s been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal,” Johnson wrote in his column for The West Australian.

“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.

“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 gets to nominate his own retirement date. And why a player at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricket history warrants a hero’s send-off?”

The broadside comes as a surprise with the duo playing 26 Tests together.

George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector and another former team-mate of Johnson, said in response: “Ultimately, we still think (Warner) is in our best 11 players to win the first Test.”

“The handling of Warner in recent years, who played with Bailey in all three forms, raises the question of whether Bailey was simply too quickly out of playing and into the job and too close to some of the players,” Johnson added.