Mitchell Johnson v David Warner: Usman Khawaja takes aim at former teammate over criticism

Usman Khawaja has taken aim at former Test teammate Mitchell Johnson over his stinging criticism of Australian star David Warner and the Sandpapergate scandal.

Usman Khawaja has declared David Warner has suffered enough for Sandpapergate and has taken strong exception at Mitchell Johnson suggesting otherwise.

Khawaja today gave a strident defence of Warner and selection chairman George Bailey who were criticised in a column by Johnson in The West Australian newspaper.

Johnson claimed Warner was yet to accept full responsibility for his role in Sandpapergate and questioned why a player at the centre of such a scandal “warrants a hero’s send-off’’ that will feature three Tests against Pakistan this season.

Khawaja, who said he had only seen selected parts of the column, disagreed.

“I was there,’’ Khawaja said at a Brisbane Heat media day in Brisbane,

“I saw the toll it (Sandpapergate) took on Steve Smith and David Warner. It was massive. These guys were at the top of their games in international cricket.

“Warner and Smith are heroes in my mind. They missed a year of cricket through dark times (after being banned for using or approving the use of sandpaper on a cricket ball in Cape Town). No-one’s perfect. Mitchell Johnson’s not perfect.

“What they have done for the game – how they have grown the game – far outweighs anything else they have done.

“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.’’

Johnson also questioned how Bailey had changed the role of the head selector to be part of the inner sanctum including helping out at training and doing throwdown to the players.

“I don’t agree with that. I think from my experience Bails and Andrew McDonald have been awesome.

“Bails is just a man of skill. He can chuck balls. He can do that stuff. If you can do it why not?

“It’s harsh. I think they brought a breath of fresh air in cricket. We won the Ashes, the World Cup, the T20 World Cup under their tenure. I don’t think you can argue with that.”

Mitchell Johnson didn’t hold back in his column - which has divided fans of Australian cricket. Picture: Getty

Peter Siddle, a member of the Ashes whitewash side of 2013-14 along with Johnson, Warner and Bailey, said he remains in touch with Johnson but did not want to pick sides.

“I’m not willing to comment. People have their opinions and stuff like that,” Siddle told this masthead.

“I don’t think it changes what happened in that series. It doesn’t change how much we enjoyed it and how much fun we had doing it. People are going to have their opinions.
“So yeah, that’s gonna happen, I’m sure they’ve spoken about it since. I guess that’s just a part of life and a part of people being able to have their opinions.”

Originally published as Mitchell Johnson v David Warner: Usman Khawaja takes aim at former teammate over criticism