Mitchell Johnson stopped from public speaking by Cricket Australia over his column on David Warner
Former Australian pace bowler Mitchell Johnson was stopped by Cricket Australia from public speaking on two occasions over his explosive column on national team icon David Warner, media reports said.
Reportedly, Johnson was stopped from speaking on two guest speaking appearances, which were scheduled to be held during the Australia-Pakistan Test match in Perth.
This comes in the backdrop of an explosive column where Johnson had questioned Warner's place in the squad.
The left-armer also questioned why Warner was given "a hero's send off" despite his involvement in the sandpaper gate, a ball-tampering incident which occurred in South Africa five years ago.
"It’s been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal. Now the way he is going out is underpinned by more of the same arrogance and disrespect to our country," Johnson wrote in Sydney Morning Herald and added as quoted by The Indian Express, "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? … his past three years in Test cricket have been ordinary, with a batting average closer to what a tail-ender would be happy with …
"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," Johnson added as quoted by the daily.
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