"Why a struggling Test opener gets to nominate his own retirement date?" - Mitchell Johnson lashes out at David Warner and George Bailey
Former Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson has called out David Warner's 'arrogance' and 'disrespect' for nominating his retirement date from Test cricket. Johnson believes the veteran left-hander's involvement in one of the biggest controversies (the 2018 ball-tampering scandal) in Australian cricket history doesn't make him deserving to retire on his terms.
Warner had announced in June 2023 that he is likely to retire from Test cricket after the Sydney Test against Pakistan in the upcoming home summer. However, the left-hander hasn't been consistent in the format in the last couple of years and averages 28 since the 2019-20 summer when he struck an unbeaten 335 against Pakistan.
Writing in his column for The West Australian, 42-year-old Johnson observed that Warner hasn't truly owned up to the ball-tampering scandal and that such a cricketer doesn't deserve a heroic send-off.
"It’s been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal," he 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?"
Johnson suggested Warner thinking of himself to be bigger than the game and added:
"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?"
The left-handed batter emerged as the mastermind of the ball-tampering saga, which happened in 2018. However, since then, Warner has played an integral role in Australia's win in the 2021 T20 World Cup and the 2023 World Cup.
Mitchell Johnson questions George Bailey's role
Johnson went on to question George Bailey's role in Warner's situation, given how the Chief Selector sidelined himself when it came to Tim Paine. The Queenslander elaborated:
"When then-captain Tim Paine’s career was ending over the sexting controversy, chairman of selectors George Bailey said he didn’t want to be part of deciding Paine’s fate because the pair were close friends. Bailey said he would leave it to then coach Justin Langer and fellow selector Tony Dodemaide to work it out."
"The handling of Warner in recent years, who played with Bailey in all three forms, raises the question of whether Bailey was simply too quickly out of playing and into the job and too close to some of the players."
Australia's Test summer begins on December 14 in Perth.