Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke has pointed the finger at Mitchell Johnson and Candice Warner for breaking a sporting taboo during the ex-bowler's scathing attack on her husband David.
Johnson wrote that Warner did not “warrant a hero's farewell” this summer despite the opening batsman's long and decorated career, pointing to his involvement in the Sandpapergate cheating scandal in 2018.
The comment has opened old wounds between the pair, after Johnson previously called for his former teammate to be dropped from the Test side during The Ashes.
That prompted a response from Candice, who said the former gangman's opinion is irrelevant and “doesn't have much merit.”
Candice Warner is accused of breaking a sporting taboo by becoming involved in her husband's lengthy clash with Mitchell Johnson.
Former Aussie skipper Clarke (pictured) had a message for Candice and Johnson: 'You don't have to say things like that in the media'
Now Clarke has lashed out at the pair as he accused them of involving family members in the dispute after Johnson called the batsman's wife “weird and cringey” and she accused him of using her husband's name because it was “the only is the way he makes headlines'. .
Speaking of his Radio program Sky Sports Wednesday morning, Clarke said, “I don't like to see families getting involved.
'When a parent, a friend, a partner gets involved, I don't like it.
“I don't like it when someone talks about someone else's family or someone else's partner… it's just too much.”
'If I'm dropped off and my father comes out and says, what kind of selection is that, I know he's just looking after his son, but daddy, mate, that doesn't help anyone.
'He can say it to me, to mum, to my sisters, to our friends in the pub, but you don't have to say things like that in the media.
'I don't mind players having differences of opinion and not talking, and I don't mind seeing players see life differently and go (their) own way.
Candice accused Johnson of using her husband's name as it was the only way he could make more headlines following the ex-bowler's first attack on David over his Test retirement
Johnson responded by calling his ex-teammate's wife “weird and cringey.”
'You would like everyone to be friends, but that is not the case. I don't like seeing families around. It's too personal for me.'
Johnson attacked Warner for not deserving a staged retirement from Test cricket at the SCG in January following his role in the 2018 Sandpapergate cheating scandal in South Africa.
He later revealed that this was partly prompted by a text message Warner sent him in April.
“I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal, and I tried to call him and talk to him about it,” Johnson said on The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show podcast.
'It was never anything personal until that moment. That is what prompted me to write this article, or part of it. It's definitely a factor. Some things he mentioned in that message.
“I won't say because that's up to Dave to say if he wants to talk about it. There were things in there that were extremely disappointing, what he said, and quite bad to be honest. That was quite a driver.'
In May, Candice lambasted Johnson after he first expressed his views on her husband's Test split in a newspaper column.
“I'm not surprised because he doesn't have much to do with the media anymore and I think the only way he makes headlines is by using David's name,” she said.
Clarke (pictured testing in 2015) still hopes Warner and Johnson can 'have a cup of coffee together' and put the episode behind them
Johnson appears to have been dropped from his commentary role at Triple M radio, just days before the first Test against Pakistan starts in Perth
'Everyone takes his comments with a grain of salt. They don't have much merit.'
Johnson appears to have been dropped from his commentary role at Triple M radio amid the row.
He said he will be in the commentary box at Optus Stadium for the first test of the summer, with fans eagerly anticipating a tricky encounter between the two foes in Perth.
However, the station did not include the Ashes hero in their list of 18 commentators for the summer of cricket.
Clarke had some suggestions for how Warner and Johnson can put the problems behind them.
“I would like to see them get away from the world and sit together,” he said Wednesday.
'Drink a cup of coffee together, or just have a telephone conversation. Whatever it is, you'd like to think it can be solved.”