Tim Paine has weighed in on the growing drama fuelled by Mitchell Johnson's recent comments, admitting there were some 'valid points' from the Test great regarding David Warner's place in the Australian team.
The retired left-arm quick sent shockwaves through the cricket world over the weekend, penning an explosive article in The West Australian where he took aim at former teammate Warner ahead of his impending retirement.
Johnson labelled the opening batsman as 'arrogant' and 'disrespectful' for seeking a swansong at his home ground in Sydney next month, before bowing out of the Test arena after a stellar career.
The article prompted a response from national selector George Bailey, who was also on the receiving-end of some criticism, while fellow opening bat Usman Khawaja defended his long-time friend on Monday.
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Tim Paine weighs in on David Warner-Mitchell Johnson drama
In an interview with SEN Radio on Monday, the former Test skipper admitted the statistical nature of Johnson's column was overshadowed by the personal attacks regarding the infamous 2018 ball-tampering scandal.
“Mitch raises some great points - statistically, David hasn’t been playing well and would other people be getting the run he’s getting now? Probably not," Paine said.
"In my opinion, he’s got credits in the bank because he is one of the all-time greats. I didn’t agree with it all but I found myself reading it and asking myself the question and that’s basically want you want in an article.
“I think the points around the stats and his position in the team and him getting a bit of extra time were probably ruined a bit by the personal nature of it.
"Bringing sandpaper back into it and saying David was a person who used his leadership position for power and stuff like that, I played with David and he certainly didn’t do that.
“I think you can read between the lines that he and Davey don’t get along… I think they’re just different people, just from what I’m reading.”
Warner was suspended for 12 months for his role in the sandpaper incident in South Africa, and has been cast as the ring leader for the five years that have followed, despite Steve Smith and Cam Bancroft also copping lengthy bans.
His recent form in red-ball cricket has been below-par, but the 37-year-old was in strong form during the recent ODI World Cup and is expected to get first crack at the opening spot against Pakistan for the three-game series.
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Tim Paine defends George Bailey after Mitchell Johnson claims
The other target in the article surrounded head selector Bailey, who stepped into the role shortly after the commencement of his on-field career, which prompted Johnson to claim he was 'too close' to the playing group.
However, according to Paine, the relationships between Bailey and the players remained professional, citing his own retirement from Test cricket and the way his former Tasmanian teammate handled the situation.
“I think a lot of his article, he raised some pretty valid points... the George stuff I didn’t love, I thought that was a bit unnecessary, but was George [transitioned] too quickly from a player to a selector? It’s a valid question," he said.
“He obviously thinks he was, but I don’t, I worked with George and I think anyone who knows George would never question his integrity or his professionalism or ability to do that job... look at the success they’ve had as a team.
“It is a fair question. He did go very quickly from a player to a coach, he is friends with a lot of those players.
“I can only comment on when I dealt with George. Anything that we had cricket related, retirement related, we were always talking when that might be.
“The difference with this one was it wasn’t cricket related, the ending of my career. George had a little bit of a conflict of interest, so the professional thing to do was to withdraw himself from that conversation.
“Not only are we close friends, he knows my family, he knows everything in my life… there was a lot of other sensible people sitting around the table from Cricket Australia who were having discussions."
Australia 14-man Test squad vs Pakistan
| Pat Cummins (c) | Scott Boland |
| Alex Carey | Cameron Green |
| Josh Hazlewood | Travis Head |
| Usman Khawaja | Marnus Labuschagne |
| Nathan Lyon | Mitchell Marsh |
| Lance Morris | Steve Smith |
| Mitchell Starc | David Warner |