Former Australia coach Justin Langer has chastised Mitchell Johnson for breaking an “unwritten rule” among former players, saying he “hated” the column he wrote about veteran opener David Warner. The former Australian pacer lambasted Warner ahead of his farewell test series against Pakistan.
Mitchell Johnson lambasted the Australian selectors for bowing to pressure and allowing Warner a farewell Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground despite of his poor form and sandpaper incident.
Johnson stated that he did not consider Warner a hero because of his involvement in the ball-tampering controversy and that such a farewell was not in keeping with Australian cricket’s high standards.
Justin Langer slammed Mitchell Johnson’s comments on public platforms in his column for Western Australia and revealed that he has the motto of praising in public and criticizing in private.
He urged everyone to say positive things about the players in public and to criticize them directly and added that Outsiders can criticize Australian players all they want, but former and current players must stick together.
“In simple terms, I hate it when men from the rare club of playing cricket for Australia air any of their grievances publicly. I believe in a simple ethos of ‘praise in public, criticize in private’. In other words, if you want to say something publicly, be positive and use the opportunity to praise the person you are talking about”.
“In contrast, if you want to criticize someone, look them in the eye and tell them how you are feeling. There was always an unwritten rule that, although all of us may not be best of friends, the mutual respect of playing for Australia was enough to stop us from criticizing each other publicly,” Justin Langer wrote.
David Warner has been ridiculed in the media for seeking to retire from Test cricket, which appears to contradict Australian ideals. The opening batter is known for his hot temper, and his career is littered with incidents in which he sparred with cricketers from all over the world.
Mitchell Johnson And David Warner Have Shared Many Happy Moments Together – Justin Langer
Justin Langer believes Mitchell Johnson has been one of Australia’s greatest players throughout the years, and he says he doesn’t know what transpired between the two cricketers behind closed doors, but he encourages them to recall happy times playing together in the future.
“Mitch is one of the very best people I have met in the game. He is a gentle giant who was one of the great players and athletes I have seen. Like a lot of greats, he is also stubborn”.
“While I don’t know the ins and outs of his gripe with Davey, I hope they can talk it out behind closed doors. He and Davey would have shared many happy moments together as teammates and I hope they can remember these going forward. It is much more fun,” Justin Langer added.
David Warner has scored over 8,400 runs at an average of 44.43 in 109 games but has been going through some tough times in the red-ball format of the game and he would be keen to end his Test career on a high in front of his home crowd.