- The paths will cross next month in Perth at Optus Stadium
- Both in commentary, Warner signed with Fox Cricket
- Johnson is at Triple M and will cover the first Test against India
They were once cricket teammates for Australia – but now bitter enemies David Warner and Mitchell Johnson are set for an awkward reunion in Perth during the first Test against India next month.
Despite Triple M not being listed as part of their team of broadcasters this week, the former paceman – who took 313 Test wickets in his career – is tipped to call the live-action in his home state.
Johnson will most likely face Warner, who has signed up as a commentator for Fox Cricket as he juggles his Big Bash commitments with the Sydney Thunder this summer.
The pair will avoid each other when Pakistan is in Perth for an ODI match against Australia on November 10 as Johnson already has a previous engagement.
Their feud – which goes back a few years – flared up again in December last year when Johnson insisted Warner ‘didn’t warrant a heroic send-off’ against Pakistan as his Test career came to an end.
Earlier last year, the former fast bowler also called for Warner to be dropped from Australia’s Ashes tour, sparking a war of words with Candice Warner.
She hit back at Johnson, saying his opinions were irrelevant and “didn’t have much merit.”
Warner – who recently stated he would be ‘open’ to a return to the Test XI if necessary – responded in emphatic fashion with a century against Pakistan in Perth last December.
They were once teammates for Australia, but now David Warner (right) and Mitchell Johnson are set for an awkward reunion in Perth next month during the first Test against India
Johnson – who works for Triple M – is most likely to face Warner, who has signed up as a commentator for Fox Cricket
It was believed that his wild celebration after reaching three figures was mainly directed against Johnson.
“You [media] saw what it was. It was a nice, quiet silence,” Warner said at the time.
“It’s just anyone wanting to write stories about me and trying to use headlines, making headlines, that kind of thing doesn’t bother me.
“I go out there and do what I have to do. And I can celebrate how I want.’
Johnson later expressed regret over working with Warner when it came to bringing up the Cape Town sandpaper scandal in 2018 in one of his newspaper columns.
Warner and then captain Steve Smith (both 12 months) plus Cameron Bancroft (nine months) were later banned by Cricket Australia – and you could argue the sporting public still hasn’t forgiven the polarizing star.
“There’s one thing I wasn’t too happy about,” Johnson said during an episode of his podcast, The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show.
“I was reading an article and just went with it. The ‘Bunnings’ and the ‘sandpaper’ part of it. Probably unpalatable. That was probably something that didn’t need to be said.
“The reason (the sandpaper scandal) came up is I don’t just look at statistics…I look at the whole picture. And I try not to bring up those old things.
“But someone [Warner] to say goodbye and to be in that position that he was in… after what they did then, that didn’t suit me. That’s why I brought it up.’