The great Aussie feud
One is a now-retired fiery fast bowler. The other is a soon-to-retire pugnacious opening batter. And there’s a chief selector in the mix too. Daniel Brettig and Andrew Wu report.
“They played together, they’re mates, they’ve been mates for well over 15 years, played a lot of cricket together. And then to go bang really hard on a personal note, there’s obviously some scars there.’’
Alyssa Healy, Australian women’s captain, and wife of men’s team fast bowler Mitchell Starc
Mitchell Johnson and David Warner’s old team-mates are lamenting the continued souring of relations between the pair, as the former speed demon revealed the texts that fuelled his fiery column slamming the batter and chief selector George Bailey.
While Johnson hit out at Bailey for what he claimed was a questioning of his mental health, those who shared landmark on-field moments with the trio expressed their disappointment at the latest fracture in the baggy green brotherhood.
There had been intrigue over Johnson’s place in the Triple M network’s calling team this summer after he was left off a list of 18 commentators sent out by Triple M on Tuesday for Australia’s first test against Pakistan in Perth. But yesterday Johnson’s management confirmed that the fast bowler would be calling the test.
Meanwhile, Warner and Bailey found an ally in former wicketkeeper and test vicecaptain Brad Haddin, who said Johnson had gone too far with his comments and had left a “bad taste in a few people’s mouths”, while other former team-mates expressed hope the rifts could be mended.
Johnson, Warner and Bailey were all part of the 2013-14 Ashes whitewash and 2015 World Cup victory but are embroiled in a bitter feud days out from the start of the home international men’s season. It comes 12 months after a falling out between the current side and the golden generation over Justin Langer’s departure as coach.
Warner declined to comment on Tuesday after Johnson used his own podcast to defend his column in The West Australian. He is expected to break his silence tomorrow at streaming service Kayo Sports’ summer launch.
Haddin, the former wicketkeeper who played much of his international cricket with the three players, said he was surprised by the personal nature of Johnson’s critique.
“Everyone’s entitled to their opinions on selections,” Haddin said on Triple M Summer Breakfast, co-hosted by Warner’s wife Candice. “This one was a bit weird. He attacked David and George on levels you don’t want to see anywhere, to be honest. It left a bit of a bad taste in a few people’s mouths.”
Other team-mates of the trio said they had encountered similar views among members of the baggy green fraternity. Alyssa Healy, the incumbent Australian women’s captain and the wife of Mitchell Starc, said the intensity of Johnson’s words were a shock.
“They played together, they’re mates, they’ve been mates for well over 15 years, played a lot of cricket together,” Healy told the Willow Talk podcast. “And then to go bang really hard on a personal note, there’s obviously some scars there … he’s entitled to his opinion, but for me it makes cricket look a little negative.”
In his podcast, Johnson admitted to some regret about the personal tone of the piece but also took issue with Bailey publicly questioning if he was “OK” when asked about the column on Sunday.
Bailey had contacted Johnson from India to express displeasure at an earlier opinion piece stating that Cricket Australia should stop asking the young fast bowler Lance Morris to rest from games.
“No, I’m not angry. I’m OK. Just want to make sure that everyone knows that I’m OK, and I’m in a good headspace,” Johnson told Sundaresan.
“That’s another point which was really disappointing. To ask if I’m OK [by George Bailey] because I’ve had mental health issues is pretty much downplaying my article and putting it on mental health, which is quite disgusting, I think. I’m fine. I’m not angry. I’m not jealous.
“It’s basically having a dig at someone’s mental health and saying that I must have something going on, a mental health issue, has made me say what I’ve said. That’s not the truth. That’s completely the opposite.
I’m actually clear-minded. “It’s based on my interactions that I’ve had with him in recent times. It sort of tries to downplay the questions that I’ve asked in that article. And to say that I’m not allowed to have an opinion, that’s what it feels like. It seems very childish from George and condescending. “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 are backed up by performances and question why players are picked when you hear about players who should be picked on form, and he’s not being picked.”
A Cricket Australia spokesperson said categorically that Bailey’s comments about Johnson were not any reference to his mental health. Bailey declined to comment.
Johnson said he had been upset by a “quite personal” message Warner sent him before the Ashes over comments Candice made on Fox Sports’ The Back Page show critiquing the credentials of prospective test openers.
“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,” Johnson said.
“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. 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. That sort of was a bit of a driver.
“And a bit with George as well. He’d sent me a message after the Lance Morris article. It was just a bit condescending. Typical George sort of stuff. When you receive it at odd hours in the morning, it was disappointing.”
Johnson and the Warners had previously enjoyed a strong relationship. Candice sent a heartfelt message of support to Johnson, describing him as a “national treasure”, in 2020, when he quit the quasi-military reality show SAS Australia, which they were both on.
Johnson explained that he was still relatively new to writing opinion pieces, and would reconsider his tone in future.
“I think, in general, the tone of my articles have been fair apart from this one. The rest have been fine. Even the one that I had written about what Candice had said on The Back Page, I still wrote a lot of good things about David and his career. I was only bringing up the point of his performances and also players who should have an opportunity. I feel like that’s fair.
“It does make me think with this one that it probably wasn’t the right tone. But those are the things that you learn. You’re allowed to make, I guess, like Davey made that mistake, I guess, well, but this is not a mistake. It’s just me thinking about the tone in which I’ve gone with here.
“I’ve never made any of my other articles personal. I definitely feel the difference with this one. It comes from a place where I think I had to go that way.”
Johnson also reflected on how he had to differentiate between friends he played cricket with and acquaintances from his time in the national team. “It’s just about finding out that you’ve got your mates, and then you had acquaintances with whom you played a sport,” he said. “You always had each other’s backs on the training paddock, but then it’s just about differentiating those relationships.
“It is sad when it gets to this, though. I’m not a person who likes that confrontation. Even if it looked like that on TV. That’s not me. It really is hard to go down this path. It is what it is. It’s done.’’