Warner row: Cricket Australia removes Mitchell Johnson as guest speaker

New Delhi: Cricket Australia (CA) removed former fast bowler Mitchell Johnson as a guest speaker at Optus Stadium in the wake of his scathing article on former teammate David Warner.

Former left-arm pacer Johnson had two guest speaking appearances scheduled for Optus Stadium in Perth as Australia took on Pakistan in the first Test of the summer starting on December 14.

But, CA decided it couldn't honour its commitment to have Johnson as a guest during two lunches of the Perth Test due to the harsh criticism he directed towards Warner and chairman of selectors George Bailey in his contentious column for The West Australian, according to News Corp reports.

"Mitchell is one of Australia’s most celebrated bowlers, but we felt on this occasion it was in everyone’s best interests that he was not the guest speaker at the CA functions,’’ a CA spokesman told News Corp on Tuesday.

The reports said that Mike Hussey, an Australian cricket legend, reportedly stepped in as the guest speaker for the lunch events after Johnson's absence.

Johnson took aim at Warner ahead of the first Test against Pakistan, sensationally declaring he didn't deserve a hero's farewell at the SCG because of his role in Sandpapergate in 2018.

However, Warner has silenced the critics with a swashbuckling century 164 off 211 balls on the opening day of the first Test against Pakistan.

En route to his incredible innings, Warner entered the top five run-getters for Australia in Test cricket, leapfrogging Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke. Moreover, in all-time list, his big hundred helped him surpass fellow swashbucklers Sir Viv Richards and Virender Sehwag.