Amid the ongoing controversy, Glenn Maxwell hailed David Warner as a champion batter.© AFP
Star all-rounder Glenn Maxwell has reacted to the latest controversy, involving former pacer Mitchell Johnson and opener David Warner, that has gripped Australian cricket in the past few days. In his column for The West Australian, Johnson launched a scathing attack on Warner and chief selector George Bailey. Johnson had questioned a Test farewell for Warner by pointing out his involvement in a ball-tampering scandal. Reacting to his column on Warner, Bailey had said: “I’ve been sent little snippets of it – I hope he’s OK”.
However, Maxwell has refused to get involved in the whole saga, saying that Australians should rather celebate the team’s recent success – World Test Championship and ODI World Cup titles.
“There’s a lot of chat around it (the Johnson and Warner saga). But I think coming into this first Test, we’ve just got to make sure that as Australians we’re supporting our team and we’re celebrating how successful this team has been over the two-year period of the World Test Championship cycle. I’m not going to throw my name into some headlines about this,” Maxwell told SEN Radio.
Despite refusing to comment on Johnson’s column, Maxwell hailed Warner as a champion batter, and hoped that the veteran opener will score plenty of runs this summer, starting with the first Test against Pakistan in Perth.
“Davey’s been an absolute champion of Australian cricket for a long period of time and the selectors were pretty clear on what they thought of it (selecting him). I’m looking forward to seeing Davey in that first Test and him making a lot of runs this summer,” he added.
Warner had earlier confirmed that the series against Pakistan will be his last in the Test format.
Australia and Pakistan will face off in three-match Test series, with the first game starting December 14 at the Optus Stadium.
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