“Not everyone is best friends,” Michael Clarke shares his opinion on Mitchell Johnson’s fiery article on David Warner and Ball Tampering scandal

Michael Clarke says he didn't notice any beef between the players when he was captain, but he might have missed out on something after retiring.

“Not everyone is best friends,” Michael Clarke shares his opinion on Mitchell Johnson’s fiery article on David Warner and Ball Tampering scandal

Michael Clarke said he did not see any rift between David Warner and Mitchell Johnson when he was captain (Images via ESPN)

On 3rd December, The West Australian released an article by Mitchell Johnson where he slammed David Warner for his role in the 2018 Ball Tampering scandal. In the article he wrote that Warner did not deserve the Test retirement he planned out and questioned his spot in the team as well. 

The article has caused a stir in Australian cricket, with it becoming the talk in town. Former Australian captain Michael Clarke also said a few words about Johnson’s article. He said that he might’ve missed out on the “beef” between the two players, but was unhappy Johnson made it personal. He acknowledged the fact that the two were strong personalities, but when he was Australian captain he never noticed any beef between the two players. 

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Yeah, maybe I’ve missed something here ... Mitch hasn’t played for years now so maybe there is a beef, I don’t know. When you’re in a role like this ... if you have an opinion and it’s based on what’s best for the team, or your experience, then go with that. But it should never be personal.
Michael Clarke in Big Sport’s Breakfast

He added:

I try not to make it personal and if it comes across that way you try and apologize for that because you don’t want that. In every sporting team. Not everybody gets on. Not everyone is best friends.

In the article, Johnson claimed Warner did not deserve a spot in the Test team due to his poor form. Along with that, he said that the opener getting to choose his own retirement is an insult to Australia. 

Tim Paine finds Mitchell Johnson’s column pretty good 

In the same article, Mitchell Johnson wrote about Tim Paine’s treatment after he started an affair with a Cricket Australia employee. He called out George Bailey, who backed out of Paine’s case as he was good friends with the former Australian captain. Paine appeared in SEN Cricket’s podcast where they spoke about the column. 

Time Paine
Time Paine said he agreed with some parts of Mitchell Johnson’s article. (Image via ESPN)

Paine said he went through the article and found it pretty good. The former captain said Johnson did make some valid points regarding Warner’s form but disagreed with what he wrote about George Bailey. 

He also said the points he made were ruined due to the personal nature of the column, that he agreed with the parts about Warner’s form, but adding the sandpaper gate was unnecessary. Paine also defended the Australian chief selector, saying Bailey was a professional and has done well with his role.

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