Australian opener David Warner has addressed the recent comments from Mitchell Johnson, but has refused to bite back in a public setting ahead of the Pakistan series.
The 37-year-old has been in the headlines over the past week after Johnson slammed his desire to have a Test swanswong in Sydney, labelling his former teammate as 'arrogant' and 'disrespectful' in The West Australian.
The criticism has drawn plenty of defence from the likes of Usman Khawaja and Brad Haddin, while the retired left-arm speedster has doubled-down and revealed the personal nature of the issue.
Warner has been selected in the 14-man squad for the three-game series beginning next Thursday, with his departure from the red-ball side expected to come following the New Year's Test.
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David Warner addresses recent Mitchell Johnson drama
Speaking at the Fox Cricket launch on Friday morning, Warner brushed aside the drama and turned his attention to the first Test on December 14th in Perth.
“It wouldn't be a summer of cricket without a headline,” he said.
“It is what it is. Everyone is entitled to an opinion... moving forward, we are looking to a nice Test over in the west.
“When you get onto the world stage, you don’t realise what goes with that... there is a lot of media, a lot of criticism.
“There are also a lot of positives - and I think what is more important is what you see today, people coming out here to support cricket, Australian cricket and cricket in general."
Warner was part of a panel alongside captain Pat Cummins and long-time friend Khawaja at the event, which saw fans pack into the outdoor Parramatta setting with a host of big names on deck.
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Pat Cummins defends David Warner, George Bailey
Prior to the official launch kicking off, Cummins spoke to reporters and backed his current teammate, while also revealing the "protective" nature of the Australian locker room.
“I certainly don’t agree with what he [Johnson] said, but everyone is entitled their opinion," Cummins explained.
"Davey’s great, I’ve spoken to him a lot over the last couple of weeks. Davey’s pretty good at firing himself up at any moment – it’s going into his last three Test matches, so you know he’s going to get the best out of himself.
"He’s faced criticism his whole career and he keeps showing time and time again his class and I’m sure this summer will be no different.
“I think we protect each other a lot. We have been through a lot over the years. I’ve played alongside someone like Davey or Steve [Smith] for a dozen years now.... [we are] fiercely protective of each other.
“I think sometimes you have to remind yourself of the amount of positive support that is out there. We have played with hundreds and hundreds of people over our careers and for the most part everyone is fantastic."
The other person who was targeted by Johnson is head selector George Bailey, who was accused of being too close with the senior members of the squad from his time in the national team.
But according to the skipper, Bailey has been the perfect addition to the Australian set-up.
“I think it’s been brilliant, George has been fantastic and it makes my job really easy," he said.
"I think the way George has managed that over the years has been brilliant and in a really busy calendar, he’s been able to blood some young players and give some of the main guys dropouts when they need to.
"He’s been world-class and I’ve never seen a selector be as hands-on or impressive as George has."
