Mitchell Johnson was reportedly asked to stand down by Cricket Australia from appearing as a guest at two functions in the wake of his scathing article directed at David Warner and George Bailey.
CA felt it couldn’t stand by its commitment to have Johnson appear as a guest during two lunches of the Perth Test, given the vitriol with which he treated Warner and Bailey in his controversial column for The West Australian.
“Mitchell is one of Australia’s most celebrated bowlers, but we felt on this occasion it was in everyone’s best interests that he was not the guest speaker at the CA functions,’’ a spokesperson for CA told News Corp.
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Just days before Warner’s final Test series, Johnson questioned why the all-time great opening batter was being afforded the chance to farewell the game on his own terms, given his struggles with form over the past three years and, more specifically, his involvement in Sandpaper gate in 2018.
Warner declared earlier this year that, should he continue to justify his spot in the team with the necessary performance until the Sydney Test against Pakistan next year, he would not play red-ball cricket beyond then.
After an indifferent Ashes in England but stellar World Cup in India, Warner retained his spot at the top of the order for the Perth Test last week.
And while CA respects Johnson’s right to disagree with Warner’s selection, the personal nature of the article was jarring enough for Australian cricket’s governing body to make a move.
The functions were official CA events, so Johnson’s celebration as the star of them would have posed an awkward dilemma, given the potential blowback from Aussie players or staff.
Warner guaranteed himself a spot in the team for the remainder of the series with his brilliant 164 in the first innings of the Perth Test.
While Warner hasn’t set the world on fire in 2023, it’s been an improvement on his 2022 campaign.
The left-hander has averaged an impressive 46.25 across 20 ODIs this year, and his Test average in 2023 was up to 31.1 following his heroics in Perth.
The veteran opener said his stressful 2022 — when he failed to get his lifetime leadership ban overturned for his role in the ‘Sandpapergate’ scandal — played a role in his form struggles that year.
Warner eventually withdrew the application to remove the leadership ban, accusing the independent panel conducting the review of wanting to publicly lynch him.
“We had a lot of stuff with CA last year and the captaincy stuff and I was going through a pretty hard time off the field from all that and dealing with it,” Warner said.
“This year, we’ve had a great successful 12 months as a team.
“I think where I am in my part of my career, it’s been great. I’ve not really had much to worry about.
“People make comments but you get on with it and you know you’ve got to go out there and score runs, and today I did that.”
Warner made a shushing motion in the direction of the Optus Stadium media area upon reaching triple figures on Thursday.
Johnson was at the ground commentating on radio and pictured by Channel 7 cameras laughing when Warner struck his second boundary of the day.
Warner said he didn’t let the external criticism distract him.
“If people are out to get you or make a headline from your name, then so be it,” Warner said.
“I can’t worry about that. I’ve got to worry about what I’ve got to do for the team – keep scoring runs and putting the team in a great position.
“I don’t feel any extra pressure, I don’t feel any other points I have to prove.”
Even if Warner fails in his next three innings, it seems sure he will be picked for a fairytale goodbye in Sydney.
But Warner isn’t counting on it just yet.
“You’ve still got to score runs,” he said.
“It’s up to the selectors. If they want to keep continuing to pick me, I ain’t leaving.”
– With AAP