Not long after he launched a scathing attack at David Warner, Mitchell Johnson fired another salvo at the Australia opener despite his century in the first Test agaisnt Pakitan at Perth. Johnson, who earlier said that Warner ‘doesn’t warrant a hero’s sendoff’, feels things could’ve gone either way for Warner who recieved a lifeline ealry in the first innings, before going on to make a 164.
Warner did go on to register a huge first inning score but was dismissed for a duck in the second innings. Johnson made sure he highlighted the fact as he targeted his former opener again.
“On day one of the first Test against Pakistan Warner rode his luck early on – and it could have gone either way – and you take that and he went on to make 164,” Johnson wrote for the West Australian.
“He did what he was paid to do in the first innings before Saturday’s duck in the second innings,” Johnson said on Day 3 of the Test match.
The former Australia pacer remains of the opinion that his criticism of Warner in the earlier column was right.
“I think my opinion in this column a couple of weeks ago is still valid. He hadn’t scored runs in about three years apart from the double century last summer.”
“Another point made was that a soft summer like this, with Australia expected to comfortably beat Pakistan and the West Indies, was the perfect time to look at blooding some new players into an ageing team.
“They could have given some new guys some really good time out in the middle this summer and backed them in. That’s going to be much harder across the next two summers when India and England visit for five-Test series. It seems they’ve got their own plans in place for selection and how they see things. But they are going to be confronted by a changing of the guard at some point soon,” he added.
Johnson also highlighted how Warner could’ve been dismissed early in the innings. Warner didn’t publicly react to Johnson’s criticism before the start of the Perth Test but let his bat do the talking. Johnson did highlight how his words might have spurred the left-handed batter to better his game and deliver, with the spotlight on him.
“Warner may have denied he cares about criticism of his form, but it definitely does drive him as shown in his performance in the first innings,” Johnson wrote.
“That sort of atmosphere is something Warner revels in,” he further added.
Topics mentioned in this article
