Former Australian captain speaks out on Mitchell Johnson’s searing attack on David Warner over farewell series

It’s just been two weeks since Australia clinched their 6th ODI World Cup trophy but the celebrations have taken a back seat as a recent controversy is ruling the headlines in Australian cricket after the former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has launched a scathing attack on current opener David Warner.

Mitchell Johnson in a column for Western Australian wrote that he doesn’t understand why a player who hasn’t been in form in Test cricket for the last 2-3 years getting an opportunity to choose his retirement series and he feels that he shouldn’t be in the team in the first place let alone getting the luxury to choose his send-off series. 

He also accused of Warner for not fully owing the Sandpaper Gate controversy that shook the whole of Australian cricket and also put George Bailey, Australia’s chief selector in question for being too close with the players as he has played with most of them.

When the article broke out it took the Australian media by storm with many Australian players joining the bandwagon and giving their opinions on the matter. The recent one Michael Clarke who captained the side to their victorious 2015 ODI World Cup campaign also spoke out about the whole Johnson-Warner saga.

Should stay away from personal attacks says Michael Clarke

The World Cup-winning captain was an integral part of the Australian setup when both of them were a part of the team and he said that though both of them used to come hard at each other in the nets, he didn’t notice any beef between both of them. 

He further said that Johnson hasn’t played with him for some time now and some rift might have arisen now in this period. “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 Show.

"I saw that but I couldn't sit here and say they had beef against one another when we played. Yeah, maybe I've missed something here as Mitch hasn't played for years now so maybe there is beef, I don't know.

However, he added that Johnson must have his opinions, but given the position he is in, he should give them if they are doing good for them or if is it from his experience and should refrain from personal attacks.

He said, “When you're in a role like this, if you have an opinion and it's based on what's best for the team, or your experience, then go with that. But it should never be personal. I try not to make it personal and if it comes across that way you try and apologize for that because you don't want that."