Mitchell Johnson excluded from commentators list after heated spat with David Warner
After a heated spat with Australia opener David Warner, Mitchell Johnson has been left off from the commentary panel of Triple M for the upcoming three-match Test series against Pakistan. Notably, the former cricketer took a dig at Warner, saying that the latter doesn’t deserve a hero send-off following the infamous Sandgate saga, that shook the cricketing world in 2018. Following which, Warner and Steven Smith were suspended for a year and but that isn’t enough according to Johnson.
The Queenslander also revealed that Warner sent him a ‘pretty bad’ text recently and that prompted Johnson to write an article about the opener on West Australian. The 42-year-old also took a dig at chief selector Geroge Bailey and criticised his close relationship with a lot of players.
Bailey retaliated immediately and stated that he hoped Johnson was okay. The former cricketer then once again called out Bailey for his ‘disgusting’ comments about his mental health. After which, the saga was expected to end with the start of Pakistan’s warm-up game against Prime Minister XI but with Johnson now removed from the commentary panel, it seems that the discussion is far from over.
On the other hand, Candice Warner, David Warner’s wife has thanked all the supporters for their support following Johnson’s remarks. Notably, Candice works for Triple M and is in a stable of hosts for the station’s Sydney Shows. It’s unclear at the moment if that prompted the organisation to take a bold step as Johnson previously revealed that he is very excited to work with Triple M for the first Test.
Meanwhile, a lot of former cricketers including Brad Haddin and Alyssa Healy have criticised Johnson for his comments on Warner. Healy particularly mentioned that the duo has played cricket for a long time and hence, this feels like a personal attack, which she doesn’t like.
“They played together, they’re mates, they’ve been mates for well over 15 years, played a lot of cricket together. And then to go bang really hard on a personal note, there’s obviously some scars there … he’s entitled to his opinion, but for me it makes cricket look a little negative, and I’m not a huge fan of that,” Healy was quoted as saying by Fox Sports.