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Former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson caused a flurry in the cricketing world when he wrote a scathing column on his former teammate David Warner and the team’s decision to select him for their upcoming Test series against Pakistan. The pair had played together in he Australian team for six years across formats and enjoyed great success, including winning the Ashes in 2013/14 and World Cup at home in 2015.
Johnson’s criticism in the column for The West Australian was mainly levelled at Warner’s recent form in Test cricket and the fact that he has “never really owned the ball-tampering scandal” in Cape Town in 2018 which saw him banned from cricket for 12 months and unable to hold a leadership position in the country again. A lot of criticism came the former fast bowler’s way for those comments and the latest to speak out against it is Warner’s manager James Erskine.
“Let me tell you, anyone can get a headline,” Erskine is quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald. Erskine said that Warner’s selection makes sense from a cricketing point of view as his potential replacements as Australia’s Test opener have simply not got the kind of records in their first class careers to displace him. “The fact is [Warner’s selection] is just logical. The three [replacement] candidates will be [Matthew] Renshaw, [Cameron] Bancroft – who has played pretty well in the Sheffield Shield – and [Marcus] Harris. Now they’ve all had spells opening the batting for Australia. David is in good form. Thank God Mitchell Johnson isn’t a Test selector,” he said.
‘It’s a bit sad in a way’
Erskine also told SEN that is sad how former players seem to be ready to criticise the current ones. “Mitchell Johnson was a fine player… and he’s entitled to his opinion. But at the end of the day what surprises me is all these ex-cricketers who basically have a crack at the current lot,” he said on SEN’s Sportsday.
“You would never get that happening in golf where Arnold Palmer was criticising Nick Faldo, or Chrissie Evert having a crack at somebody else who was currently playing (tennis). I think it’s a bit sad in a way. I’m sure they have an opinion but I think it’s to get a headline.
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