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Mitchell Johnson, a former fast bowler for Australia,
has lashed out at George Bailey and David Warner, his former teammates, saying
that Bailey is too close to the players and that Warner’s demand for a Test
farewell on his terms smacks of “arrogance and disrespect” similar to
the 2018 sandpaper incident.
Australia’s selectors named Warner in their 14-man
squad for the first Test match against Pakistan on Sunday, as expected. Bailey,
the chairman of selectors, said that Warner was in Australia’s strongest XI.
Johnson questioned both Warner’s apparent wish for a
Test farewell and the selectors’ willingness to provide it in his Sunday column
in The West Australian. Warner has averaged 26.74 in his previous 36 Test
innings. Johnson’s criticism goes beyond Warner’s poor form over the past two
years. Johnson further charged him with not accepting full responsibility for
his involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering incident.
“It’s been five years and David Warner has still
never really owned the ball-tampering scandal,” Johnson wrote. “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?
“Warner certainly isn’t Australia’s Test captain
and never deserved to be for that matter. In fact, he ends his career under a
lifetime leadership ban.
“Yes, 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.
“It’s the ball-tampering disgrace in South Africa
that many will never forget. Although Warner wasn’t alone in Sandpapergate, he
was at the time a senior member of the team and someone who liked to use his
perceived power as a ‘leader’.
“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?
“Granted he made his double century against South
Africa at the MCG last summer, but they were the only runs he had scored in
years. Leading into this year’s Ashes series that was the only time he had
reached 50 in his previous 17 Test innings.”