Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed his opinion that he might have to intervene in the ongoing conflict between ex-bowler Mitchell Johnson and current opening batter David Warner.
The two-time World Cup-winning captain stated that players should figure out such issues face-to-face instead of firing shots at each other in the media.
“I have to get in between these two guys at some stage ... I think I need to be the mediator and get them both in a room and let them have it out rather than playing it out in the media. They’re both pretty feisty characters and we know this issue that’s come up now goes back six or eight months, back to the Ashes selection,” Ponting said.
“That’s where it all started. It sounds like an issue that’s gone on without either of them sitting down and having a face-to-face conversation. I’d like to see that happen.”
It must be noted that Johnson, who represented Australia in 256 international matches, had questioned why is Warner being treated this well by the selectors despite being part of a ball-tampering scandal in 2018.
"It's been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball-tampering scandal," Johnson wrote. "Now the way he is going out is underpinned by more of the same arrogance and disrespect to our country.
"As we prepare for David Warner's farewell series, can somebody please tell me why?"
Warner has a 26.74 average in red-ball cricket over the last two years and struggled to score big during the Ashes 2023 as the left-handed batter could only amass 285 runs in 10 innings at an average of 28.50.
Johnson couldn't understand why a player who has been struggling badly in Test cricket announced his own retirement and is getting a hero's send-off
"Why a struggling Test opener gets to nominate his retirement date. And why a player at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in Australian cricket history warrants a hero's send-off?” he added.
- Ricky Ponting