"Quite disgusting" - Mitchell Johnson lashes out at George Bailey for questioning his mental health over David Warner's criticism
Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson has hit out at the national men's team chief selector George Bailey for questioning his mental health over criticizing David Warner. Johnson felt it completely downplayed the message he was trying to convey through his article.
Following Johnson's scathing accusations of arrogance and disrespect against Warner, Bailey came forward to defend the veteran opener. The former middle-order batter suggested that Johnson may not be in the right mental space and shouldn't comment until he is in the same spot.
Speaking on The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Podcast, the Queenslander asserted that he was not angry and that he wrote what he felt was right.
"To ask if I’m OK because I’ve had mental health issues is pretty much downplaying my article and putting it on mental health, which is quite disgusting I think. I’m fine. I’m not angry. I’m not jealous. I’m just writing a piece that for me, I felt like I needed to write."
The 73-Test veteran labeled Bailey "childish" and "condescending," elaborating:
"It’s basically having a dig at someone’s mental health and saying that I must have something going on - a mental health issue has made me say what I’ve said. It sort of tries to downplay the questions that I’ve asked in that article… It seems very childish from George and condescending."
Former captains Tim Paine and Michael Clarke weighed in on the stand-off, suggesting that the duo don't get along. However, Paine and Clarke also underlined the need to not take it personally.
"I got a message from Dave" - Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson further revealed that he received a text message from Warner after the latter's wife commented on the replacement candidates not being good enough.
"It was around the time that Candice had said on The Back Page about there not being openers good enough to take his position. That’s when I responded to that. And I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal and I tried to ring him to talk to him about it, which I’ve always been open about with the guys."
The 42-year-old added that the contents of that text message weren't what he expected.
"It’s definitely a factor - some of the things that he mentioned in that message, I won’t say it because that’s up to Dave to say if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there which was extremely disappointing what he said and pretty bad to be honest. That sort of was a bit of a driver."
Meanwhile, Australia's Test summer gets underway on December 14 against Pakistan in Perth.