Ahead of Australia’s series against Pakistan, a simmering feud between Mitchell Johnson and David Warner has become apparent.
The two Australian cricketers have been teammates in the past. In this explainer, we look at how the feud started:
In a remarkable outburst against Warner’s selection for the Pakistan series, Johnson dug up the 2018 ball-tampering ‘sandpaper’ gate that had banished Warner, along with Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft, for a year.
“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,” Johnson wrote in Sydney Morning Herald. “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? … his past three years in Test cricket have been ordinary, with a batting average closer to what a tail-ender would be happy with … 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?”
And then came the clincher: “Now the way he (Warner) is going out is underpinned by more of the same arrogance and disrespect to our country. What will fans bring for Warner? Bunnings would sell out of sandpaper.”
Incidentally, what’s Warner’s batting average in the last two years?
In 12 Tests at home in Australia he has averaged 32.75 against the career average of 44.43. He has been poor away from home, averaging just 25.90 in this time period. His Test career-average away from Australia is 31.59, and averages 26.74 in England and 21.78 in India.
How did it get this personal? Is there a past incident between Johnson & Warner?
Johnson has claimed it got personal when Warner texted him earlier this year after he had responded to Warner’s wife Candice’s comments. “It was really bad. It was never personal until then, until that point. That is what prompted me to write the article, or part of it, as well. It is definitely a factor,” Johnson said on The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show podcast.
What had Candice Warner said then?
In April this year, she had talked about Warner’s form in Fox Sports. “If Dave doesn’t perform in that first Test, who do they bring in that’s better? His form wasn’t great that last Ashes. Stuart Broad had his number I think ten times. So it didn’t look good for him. And he hasn’t performed well over there in the past. But who do you put in?”
Soon, in his column at SMH, Johnson brought up Candice’s quotes. “Her loyalty might be admirable but it was all a bit weird and cringey when she said if Dave doesn’t perform in that first Test, who do they bring in that’s better? I hate that argument. If players were only judged on their previous achievements then Dennis Lillee would still be opening the bowling for Australia and Ricky Ponting would be batting at No. 3.”
Candice hit back via News Corp. “It doesn’t surprise me because he doesn’t have a lot to do with media anymore and I feel like the only way he gets a headline is by using David’s name. Everyone takes his comments with a grain of salt. They don’t have a lot of merit.”
It’s around this time that Johnson says now that Warner had texted that “really bad” text message. “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 said about Warner’s text message in the podcast.
How has Johnson vs Warner segued into Johnson vs George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector?
In his recent column questioning Warner’s place, Johnson had also taken a dig against Bailey. “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 … (Bailey) seems to have moved to be a part of the inner sanctum, rather than standing aside from it”.
In a press conference, ahead of the series against Pakistan, Bailey responded about the column: “I’ve been sent little snippets of it – I hope he’s OK. I’ve got no idea [if he is],” Bailey said of Johnson.
That “I hope he is OK” hasn’t gone down well with Johnson who reckons it’s referring to his mental health troubles.
In 2020, Johnson had opened up on his mental health struggles. “Through my cricket career I actually just dealt with it (depression),” Johnson had said on Channel 7. “You have your moments where you struggle with it really bad and it can be tricky when you’ve got a lot of time to think about things. You’ve just got no control whatsoever and your mind starts playing those tricks on you, you start thinking of the worst. I’ve found it tougher since retiring from cricket. All of a sudden, you’re not doing as much. You sort of lose your purpose a little bit.”
Now, post Bailey’s comments, Johnson spoke up in the podcast. “To ask if I’m okay because I’ve had mental health issues is pretty much downplaying my article and putting it on mental health, which is quite disgusting, I think,” Johnson said. “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 have said. That’s not the truth. That’s completely the opposite. I’m actually clear-minded.” Johnson also revealed that Bailey had texted him at “odd hours in the morning” after he wrote on the fast bowler Lance Morris, who has been selected in the squad to play against Pakistan.
Does Johnson regret anything he wrote in his column questioning Warner’s place?
He said his only regret was not withdrawing a line in his column suggesting “Bunnings would sell out of sandpaper” if fans were asked to bring something to wave for Warner’s farewell. “It was probably distasteful and something that I think didn’t need to be said,” Johnson said in the podcast The Mitchell Johnson Show.
How has the Australian cricketing fraternity responded?
Former Australian captain Tim Paine, who took over the leadership role after the ball tampering incident and who lost his captaincy after a sexting incident involving a lady staffer for Cricket Tasmania, said: “I think if you read between the lines, him and Davey Warner clearly don’t get along. So it’s a bit easier for him to fire a few shots at him. They’re just different people … 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.”
Another former skipper Michael Clarke also had his say: In every sporting team, not everybody gets on. Not everyone is best friends. Dave is a strong character, Mitch is a strong character, (they) went hard at each other in the nets,” Clarke told Big Sports Breakfast. “Mitch hasn’t played for years now so maybe there is beef, I don’t know.”
Former Australian coach Darren Lehmann described Johnson as “a great fella” and hoped Warner and Johnson “got together and sorted it out” because “they are both good fellas”.
Is Johnson in mood to apologise for any of his recent comments against Warner and the selector Bailey?
“It’s a hard question to answer at the moment because it’s so fresh,” he said in the podcast. “I sort of feel like they’ve made their bed, both those guys, and they’ve made it really clear to me where I stand with them.”
Mitchell Johnson (right) had slammed Warner for not owning the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. (File) 
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