Former Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has acknowledged that his recent column criticising David Warner's Test farewell rumours might have been too strong, but he believes he asked necessary questions ahead of Australia's Test series against Pakistan.
Johnson mentioned that he received a 'pretty personal' text message from Warner earlier this year in response to another opinion of his regarding Warner's place in the Test side.
In his column, Johnson raised concerns about Warner's Test performances and questioned why a player involved in the ball-tampering scandal was allowed to choose his retirement date. Despite Warner's recent dip in Test numbers, he was selected for the first Test against Pakistan by the Australian selection committee led by George Bailey.
Johnson defended his column, stating that he wrote it from a place of concern backed by performance data. He also mentioned a personal aspect involving a message from Warner, expressing disappointment with some of the content but refraining from disclosing details.
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"I'm just writing a piece that, for me, I felt like I needed to write. There was that personal aspect to it. But mostly I've tried to write things that is backed up by performances and question why players are picked when you hear about players should be picked on form, and he's not being picked," Johnson said in his podcast, the Mitchell Johnson Show.
"It was around the time that Candice had said on the [TV program The] Back Page about there not being openers good enough to take his position. That's when I responded to that," he recalled.
"And I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal, and I tried to ring him to talk to him about it, which I've always been open about with the guys.
"When I finished playing, I said when I'm in the media, if I'm saying things or writing things that you guys don't like, just come and speak to me. It was never a personal thing then. Until that point. That is what prompted me to write the article or part of it as well. It's definitely a factor. Some of the things that he mentioned in that message. I won't say it because that's up to Dave to say if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there, which was extremely disappointing what he said, and pretty bad, to be honest. That sort of was a bit of a driver," he added.
Acknowledging the strong tone of his column, Johnson explained that he is new to media writing but stood by his valid criticism of Warner and Bailey. He stressed that he had never made his previous articles personal and that this particular one was a departure from his usual approach.
Warner is currently preparing to play in the first Test against Pakistan, despite the controversy surrounding his farewell announcement. The visiting side, led by Shan Masood, is scheduled to play a practice game against the Australian Prime Minister's XI from December 6 in Canberra before heading to Perth for the series opener on December 14.
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