CRICKET fans have been left stunned after Mitchell Johnson peppered former teammate David Warner with some explosive words.
The Australian questioned whether Warner deserves to pick a farewell Test following his recent poor run.
And Johnson has revealed the reason behind his explosive column attack on Warner.
Find out all the details on the huge spat below...
What did Mitchell Johnson say about David Warner?
Johnson wrote in his Sunday column in The West Australian: "It's been five years and David Warner has still never really owned the ball- tampering scandal.
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"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 farewekk series, can somebody please tell me why?
"Why a struggling Test opener gets to nominate his own 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?
“Warner certainly isn’t Australia’s Test captain and never deserved to be for that matter. In fact, he ends his career under a lifetime leadership ban. Yes, he has a decent overall record and some say is one of our greatest opening bats. But his past three years in Test cricket have been ordinary, with a batting average closer to what a tailender would be happy with.
“Granted he made his double century against South Africa at the MCG last summer, but they were the only runs he had scored in years. Leading into this year’s Ashes series that was the only time he had reached 50 in his previous 17 Test innings.”
The Australian also reiterated the ball-tampering scandal in 2018 by saying: “It’s the ball-tampering disgrace in South Africa that many will never forget.
“Although Warner wasn’t alone in Sandpapergate, he was at the time a senior member of the team and someone who liked to use his perceived power as a ‘leader’.
“Does this really warrant a swansong, a last hurrah against Pakistan that was forecast a year in advance as if he was bigger than the game and the Australian cricket team?”
What was David Warner's response?
Erskine hit back by claiming that nobody is capable of replacing David Warner.
Warner's manager said: “If there was somebody sitting on the sidelines who was an absolute automatic to come in, bring ‘em on,” Erskine told SEN Sportsday.
“David would say, ‘Be my guest, I’ll give you batting tips’, but the fact of the matter is, there isn’t.
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“I’m guessing but I won’t be far out, I think between Marcus Harris, Renshaw and Bancroft, they’ve probably got a total of 1500 runs between them.
“My black Labrador could work out who are the contenders to basically take the spot… collectively they have averages in the mid-20s.
“David Warner has played 109 Test matches and has an average of 44.4, (he has) over 8500 Test runs.
“If anyone listening thought that David Warner wanted to play Test cricket for Australia if he didn’t think he was up for it, they’re wrong… he doesn’t want a swan song, he thinks he’s the best for the job.
“If he goes and gets two ducks in the first two Tests then they’ll drop him, but he won’t.”
