Looming Triple M showdown between Mitchell Johnson and Candice Warner threatens Perth Test

Triple M employees Mitchell Johnson and Candice Warner could cross paths during the opening Test against Pakistan, as the civil war threatens to overshadow the Australian summer.

Mitchell Johnson is set to take the new microphone in Perth when David Warner faces up for the first ball of his farewell Test summer.

Johnson will commentate for Triple M in the first Test, despite his name being mysteriously left off a press release announcing the network’s commentators.

The fallout from the personal attack Johnson launched on Warner in a newspaper column makes the appointment controversial, given Warner’s wife, Candice, is employed by Triple M as a host.

It’s understood Triple M will almost certainly ensure Johnson is in the commentary chair for the start of the Test, particularly if Australia is batting and Warner is taking guard.

But while the radio network understandably wants to make the most of Johnson’s explosive relevance to this Test, sources say Triple M won’t have him seeking boundary interviews with players, because it isn’t the network’s style to do that.

Mitchell Johnson wasn’t on Triple M’s list of commentators for the summer.

Sources say the Warners have not raised any objections with Triple M about Johnson being part of the Perth coverage, and it’s even possible Candice could still make an ad hoc appearance in commentary to provide colour in the event her husband makes a hundred in his third last Test.

That said, Candice Warner is not part of the Triple M cricket commentary team and is not scheduled to be part of the call.

It was public criticism Johnson had made about Candice Warner’s work as a panellist for The Back Page show on Fox Sports which prompted a text message exchange between David Warner and Johnson earlier this year that Johnson decided to make public in his podcast this week.

There was some angst last summer when Justin Langer was due to play an on-field role for Channel 7 just days after the release of a podcast where he had raised the ire of his former players with comments he made about his departure as Australian coach.

Candice Warner could make an appearance on Triple M during the first Test in Perth. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

However, neither Triple M or Cricket Australia is anticipating those tensions to arise in the lead-up to the Perth Test due to the fact the network’s style is for commentators to largely remain in the box and not mix with players on the boundary.

Johnson has not scored any other commentary gigs this summer beyond his one-off role for Triple M for his home Test in Perth.

Channel 7 has declined to consider him for its Perth commentary team, despite the fact he writes his newspaper column for 7 West Media in Perth.

“I’m all good. I will be doing some commentary for Triple M in the first Test. We’ll see what happens there,” Johnson had said on the Mitchell Johnson Show in an extensive discussion on the fallout from his column with co-host Bharat Sunderasan.

Originally published as Looming Triple M showdown between Mitchell Johnson and Candice Warner threatens Perth Test