World Cup hero backs ‘champion’ Warner amid ugly…

Glenn Maxwell has launched a fervent defense of World Cup-winning teammate David Warner, declaring him an 'absolute hero' and calling for the Australians to 'bypass' the Test team this summer as divisions emerge following Mitchell Johnson's testy comments.

After declaring he would 'definitely' play for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash opening match in Brisbane on Thursday night after returning home from India late last week following a stunning turn in the World Cup, Maxwell said it was time for celebration of Australia's achievements.

Former fast bowler Johnson doubled down on his criticism of Warner's selection for the Pakistan Test series in his podcast after expressing the veteran opener's hopes for a swan song despite poor returns from the red ball.

Johnson said he had chosen to come down hard on Warner in his weekend newspaper column following a text exchange between the World Cup-winning teammates that contained “extremely disappointing” language.

Maxwell, who has won three World Cups with Warner, two 50-over wins and one T20 win, and played with Johnson in the 2015 success, did not want to make 'headlines' by getting involved.

Maxwell launched a strong defense of David Warner after sharp comments from former teammate Mitchell Johnson

Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson were teammates in the 2015 World Cup victory

Maxwell, who has won three World Cups with Warner, two 50-over wins and one T20 win, and played with Johnson in the 2015 success, did not want to make 'headlines' by getting involved.

But his support for Warner was clear.

“Davey has been an absolute champion of Australian cricket for a long time and the selectors were quite clear about what they thought,” he said on Tuesday.

'I'm looking forward to seeing Davey in that first Test and getting a lot of runs in this summer.'

With the rift sparking debate over relationships between former and current players ahead of the Test summer starting in Perth, Maxwell said the current team deserved to be celebrated and hoped cricket fans were not distracted by the war of words.

“There is obviously a lot of talk about it, but as I take part in this first test I think it is important that we all support our team and celebrate how successful this team has been in recent times,” he told SEN.

“This two-year run of the World Test Championship, having missed the final of the previous cycle, to then beat India in the biggest match in the Test arena is a special achievement and it would be nice to celebrate this summer.

Johnson wrote a column this weekend in which he suggested that David Warner should not be offered a farewell series

Maxwell said Warner was an 'absolute hero' and pleaded for the Aussies to support the Test team

“The same goes for the ODI group. We play the West Indies at the end of the summer and I hope Australia can just get past both teams who have had extremely successful spells.”

Maxwell hits the Big Bash in a stunning final innings in India, where his record century led the T20 team to Australia's only win in a five-match series. He said he was “really excited” about what the Stars could produce.