“It was never a personal thing then until this point” - Mitchell Johnson claims text message from David Warner drove him to write column

Former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has claimed a text message from David Warner which was “quite personal” and “pretty bad” was one of the factors behind his scathing attack on the veteran opener. Johnson added that the message contained pretty disappointing stuff.

The former Aussie pacer has been in the news for the last few days after he attacked Warner and chief selector George Bailey over the opening batter’s Test retirement plans. Questioning the same, he also revisited Warner's involvement in the 2018 ball-tampering scandal.

In a new twist to the drama, Johnson has stated that a text message sent by Warner in April had a role to play in his column. The text, Johnson claimed, pertained to him questioning Warner’s wife Candice’s comments on a TV panel show. Candice had said on “The Back Page” that there weren’t openers good enough to take his position.

On his podcast, “The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show”, hosted by journalist Bharat Sundaresan, the former left-armer opened up about the text message.

"I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal. I tried to ring to try and talk to him about it, which I've always been open to. I know I've been open to the guys when I finished playing. I said if I'm in the media and writing things or saying things that you don't like, just come and speak to me,” he claimed

"It was never a personal thing then until this point. This is probably what drove me to write the article as well, part of it. It was definitely a factor. Some of the stuff that was said in that, I won't say it. I think that's up to Dave to say it if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there that was extremely disappointing, what he said, and pretty bad to be honest," the 42-year-old added.

Meanwhile, Johnson has also lashed out at Bailey and termed the questioning of his mental health as “disgusting” and “condescending”.

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“I didn't mind that selection” - Tim Paine reacts to Johnson-Warner saga

Meanwhile, speaking to Sen Cricket, former Australian captain Tim Paine said that he was fine with Warner opening in the first Test against Pakistan. According to Paine, Warner was always the front-runner for the opening Test.

“I think it was pretty clear in the lead-up that Warner was going to play. I thought his World Cup form was excellent and I know they're different formats, but I think he's been proven and good enough for long enough to stay with him for the start of this series… I didn't mind that selection,” Paine said.

The first Test of the Australia vs Pakistan series begins in Perth on December 14.