Mitchell Johnson explains why he wrote ‘attacking column’ on David Warner

Former Australia left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson has explained why he wrote a fiery article on David Warner. Recently, the two-time World Cup winner, Johnson wrote an article in ‘The West Australian’ and roasted Warner for his poor form in the longest format of the game. He added that Warner shouldn’t get a hero’s farewell as he was involved in the sandpaper gate.

“As we prepare for David Warner’s farewell series, can somebody please tell me why?” Johnson wrote. “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?”

Got a message from David Warner which was quite personal: Mitchell Johnson

After getting a lot of criticism for his comments, Johnson said that he got a message from the left-hander. The former explained that he had a chat with the current players in the past about his job about writing something which might not be liked by the players.

“I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal,” Johnson said on the podcast released on Tuesday. “I tried to ring to try and talk to him about it, which I’ve always been open to. I know I’ve been open to the guys when I finished playing. I said if I’m in the media and writing things or saying things that you don’t like, just come and speak to me.

“It was never a personal thing then until this point. This is probably what drove me to write the article as well, part of it. It was definitely a factor. Some of the stuff that was said in that, I won’t say it. I think that’s up to Dave to say it if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there that was extremely disappointing, what he said, and pretty bad to be honest,” he said.