Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has weighed in on the ongoing feud between veteran opener David Warner and former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson ahead of the Test series against Pakistan. Johnson's criticism of Warner has become the talk of the town in the build-up to the Australian opener's farewell Test series at home. After winning the record-extending sixth World Cup crown in India, Australia will resume its title defence in the ICC World Test Championship.
Australia are set to host Pakistan in its first away assignment after winning the One Day International (ODI) World Cup. Former cricketer Johnson launched an all-out attack on Warner over the latter seeking a Test farewell in the Pakistan Test series. Warner was earlier named in Australia's 14-member squad for the first Test against Pakistan. Johnson questioned Warner's farewell request and the ex-cricketer also gave the infamous ball-tampering scandal a mention in his bombshell statement.
What did Johnson say about Warner?
"It's been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal," Johnson wrote in his Sunday column in The West Australian. Jumping to Warner's defence after the stinging criticism of the former Australian cricketer, all-rounder Maxwell branded his teammate as an ‘absolute champion’ of the Aussie side. In an interaction with Australian radio station SEN, Maxwell agreed with the selectors' decision to pick Warner and the World Cup 2023 winner is also looking forward for his teammate to score runs against Pakistan.
'Not going to throw my name into some headlines'
{{/usCountry}}"It's been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal," Johnson wrote in his Sunday column in The West Australian. Jumping to Warner's defence after the stinging criticism of the former Australian cricketer, all-rounder Maxwell branded his teammate as an ‘absolute champion’ of the Aussie side. In an interaction with Australian radio station SEN, Maxwell agreed with the selectors' decision to pick Warner and the World Cup 2023 winner is also looking forward for his teammate to score runs against Pakistan.
'Not going to throw my name into some headlines'
{{/usCountry}}“I’m not going to throw my name into some headlines about this. But Davey’s been an absolute champion of Australian cricket for a long period of time and the selectors were pretty clear on what they thought of it (selecting him). I’m looking forward to seeing Davey in that first Test and him making a lot of runs this summer,” Maxwell said.
Maxwell not the only one coming to Warner's defence
Earlier, opener Usman Khawaja also opted to come out in the defence of Warner. Khawaja asserted that Warner and ex-Australian skipper Steve Smith are nothing but heroes. "To say Dave Warner or anyone else involved in sandpaper (gate) is not a hero... I strongly disagree because they have paid their dues. A year out of cricket is a long time," he added.