Mitchell Johnson clarifies about verbal attack on David Warner

Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has clarified his point of lashing David Warner and Cricket Australia. He has revealed the reason behind his explosive comments in the Western Australia Column. He also slammed the chief selector George Bailey for giving Warner a farewell despite his poor form recently and after the scandalous ‘Sandpaper Gate’ incident. 

Johnson has shocked the Australian Cricket Board by criticising David Warner, questioning if the opener deserved a final Test. Warner has stated his desire to retire from Test cricket after the conclusion of the forthcoming series against Pakistan. The third and final Test of the three-match series, which begins on December 14, will be given a farewell at Warner's home stadium, the Sydney Cricket Stadium. 

The 42-year-old pacer stated that Warner texted him earlier this year after he wrote a column on Warner's wife Candice, defending her husband's place in the team. He did not disclose many details of Warner's "quite personal" text message, Johnson confessed that it was one of the reasons, along with the ball-tampering scandal, behind his column in the West Australian. 

I got a message from Dave: Mitchell Johnson

Johnson said, on his show, "I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal. 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."