Why unassuming Mitchell Johnson took aim at David Warner in brutal spray

There’s a part of Mitchell Johnson’s personality which is almost lamb-like ... then there’s the tiger who tore down David Warner. ROBERT CRADDOCK analysis

In a crazy sort of way, Mitchell Johnson’s volcanic column explaining why David Warner should not play for Australia this summer actually proved why he should.

Let’s be frank.

This low key summer, which features Pakistan and the West Indies as Australia’s Test match opponents, has about as much flavour as a diet biscuit dipped in bowl of boiled rice.

Suddenly, following Johnson’s lightning bolt which crackled into our world from somewhere west of the Nullarbor Plain, a lifeless season has a pulse.

Within an hour or two of this masthead posting a story on Johnson’s column on Sunday morning, there were more than a hundred public comments at the bottom of the story, most supporting Johnson’s words, some staggered by the directness of them and others feeling they were too harsh.

But he got Australia talking. And they will talk every time Warner bats this summer.

If Warner fails this season he will be trailed from the crease with cries of “he stayed too long.’’

If he succeeds, some will clap. Many won’t. That’s life as a polarising figure.

It’s true that, on form, Warner probably does not deserve to be there but his presence has given this docile summer a much needed storyline.

Ian Healy was denied a farewell Test at the Gabba in 1999. Warner will gain three this summer but the difference was the quality of the men behind them.

Healy had the incomparable Adam Gilchrist snapping at his heels while Warner has three openers who have scored one century between them in 38 Tests.

Had there been a Matt Hayden-Michael Slater-Mark Taylor in the wings Warner would rightly have been pushed into retirement.

But the opposition was so modest Warner’s credit points were just enough to get him home in a tight call.

Former speed demon Johnson has become an interesting figure in retirement.

I first met him when he flew home from an Under-19 tour of England and he was so shy at the airport he could barely look interviewers in the eye.

Mitchell Johnson is a polarising figure.

A part of him is still that unassuming, at times almost bashful character, the antithesis of his new role as tub-thumping columnist.

One popular sentiment on Sunday was that Johnson’s volcanic sprays of Warner and selection chairman George Bailey sounded strange from a player who was extremely sensitive to criticism himself.

But this contradiction can be explained with the key point being Johnson is an emotional person who feels strongly about things in his world and he believes from the bottom of his heart Warner should have gone.

When Australian coach Justin Langer was being torn down by the players, Johnson was deeply offended by it, said so, and fell out with the fast bowlers in a rift that has never healed.

Maybe it will in Perth when he comes face to face with the team in his role as a radio commentator for Triple M. Get there early. It could be more engaging than anything that happens on the field.

Originally published as Why unassuming Mitchell Johnson took aim at David Warner in brutal spray