David Warner breaks silence on Mitchell Johnson attack, Pat Cummins backs opener

David Warner has finally responded to former teammate Mitchell Johnson launching a scathing attack on the Australia opener. Johnson, in a newspaper column, had slammed Warner for wanting to have a farewell Test when he “never really owned the ball-tampering scandal” in Cape Town in 2018. The former fast bowler also revealed later that it was an old "personal" message from Warner that led to him writing the brutal column. Warner, however, has laughed off the criticism and is already looking forward to the Pakistan Test series where he could lay his final red-ball match in Sydney. “It would not be a summer of cricket without a headline. It is what it is. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. But moving forward, we are looking to a nice Test over in the west,” Warner was quoted as saying by Fox Sports. Warner added that his background has helped him to deal with such criticism. “I resonate with where I grew up. For me, it was a great upbringing with my parents, but it taught me everyday … to work hard. My parents ingrained that into me. When you get on to the world stage, you don’t realise what goes with that. There is a lot of media. A lot of criticism. But 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. It is fantastic,” he said. Warner featured on the Fox Sports show with Pat Cummins and the Australian captain defended his player, adding that he is surprised the criticism has come after the team’s ODI World Cup win. “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,” Cummins said. “It is hard to say (what Mitch’s motivation is). You have to ask Mitch. But there are so many things we should be celebrating about Australian cricket at the moment."