A week after being viciously attacked by former Australia cricketer Mitchell Johnson, which created quite a stir in world cricket, David Warner broke silence with an astonishing response. In an explosive tirade, Johnson revisited the sandpaper gate scandal in blasting the Aussie opener for wanting a farewell Test in Sydney, however, what sparked that column was a "quite personal" message he had received from Warner back in April this year in response to a piece he wrote after the latter's wife Candice defended her husband's spot in the Test team.
Quoted by Fox Sports during an event in Parramatta, Warner rather laughed off the statements made by Johnson saying that there wouldn't have been an Australian summer of cricket without a headline. Warner, who will be playing his final red-ball series against Pakistan which begins from Thursday with a possible farewell game in the third Test depending on his performance in the opening two ties, however admitted that he has been used to such criticism all through his career.
“It would not be a summer of cricket without a headline,” Warner said. “It is what it is. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But moving forward, we are looking to a nice Test over in the west.”
Warner also revealed that his upbringing has helped him deal with such difficult situations.
“I resonate with where I grew up. For me, it was a great upbringing with my parents, but it taught me everyday … to work hard. My parents ingrained that into me,” he said. “When you get on to the world stage, you don’t realise what goes with that. There is a lot of media. A lot of criticism. But there are also a lot of positives. And i think what is more important is what you see today, people coming out here to support cricket, Australian cricket and cricket in general. It is fantastic.”
{{/usCountry}}“I resonate with where I grew up. For me, it was a great upbringing with my parents, but it taught me everyday … to work hard. My parents ingrained that into me,” he said. “When you get on to the world stage, you don’t realise what goes with that. There is a lot of media. A lot of criticism. But there are also a lot of positives. And i think what is more important is what you see today, people coming out here to support cricket, Australian cricket and cricket in general. It is fantastic.”
{{/usCountry}}Australia captain Pat Cummins, who was called "gutless" by Johnson in a column last year, recalled the challenging times at the wake of that infamous scandal in South Africa and how the team coped up with all the criticism.
“I think we protect each other a lot. We have been through a lot over the years,” he said. “Our boys, I’ve played alongside someone like Davey or Steve (Smith) for a dozen years now. (We are) fiercely protective of each other.”
Cummins also questioned the timing of Johnson's words especially with the Australian ODI side having won the World Cup for a record-extending sixth time after having defeated the mighty Team India.
“I think sometimes you have to remind yourself of the amount of positive support that is out there,” Cummins said. “We have played with hundreds and hundreds of people over our careers and for the most part everyone is fantastic.
“It is hard to say (what Mitch’s motivation is). You have to ask Mitch. But there are so many things we should be celebrating about Australian cricket at the moment.
“Our men’s and women’s teams have had arguably our most successful seasons ever. We are going into a really exciting summer.
“There are so many exciting things about Australian cricket at the moment and I think we should be focusing and talking about that."