Australia star opener David Warner is set for his retirement from Test cricket at the conclusion of the upcoming Test series against Pakistan at home.
The 3-Test series starts on December 14 in Perth, followed by Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Warner will retire from Test cricket at the end of the SCG Test, which will be at his home ground.
However, former Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson is unhappy and unimpressed with Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian captain Pat Cummins giving the “struggling test opener” David Warner his farewell or retirement Test series.
David Warner brought disrespect to our country: Mitchell Johnson
Writing a column in The West Australian, Mitchell Johnson tore into Warner for getting a “hero send-off” and even invoked the involvement of Warner in the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal.
“As we prepare for David Warner’s farewell series, can somebody please tell me why?” Johnson wrote. “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?”
“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’. Now the way he is going out is underpinned by more of the same arrogance and disrespect to our country. What will fans bring for Warner? Bunnings would sell out of sandpaper.”
Mitchell Johnson and David Warner played in the Australian team together for around five years, winning the home 2013/14 Ashes and the 2015 World Cup as teammates.
The left-handed opener hasn’t been at his best in Test cricket for the past few years. Since the start of 2021, the southpaw has averaged only 28 across 25 Test matches, with only one century – his double hundred against South Africa in his 100th Test – and 6 fifties in 44 innings. In 2023, he is averaging only 22 across 9 Test matches with 2 fifties in 16 innings.
