Mitchell Johnson reveals that a text message from David Warner that was 'quite personal' was the catalyst for explosive column questioning the departing Test player's SCG swansong

Mitchell Johnson has blamed a text message from David Warner for triggering his scathing attack on his former Australia cricket teammate.

A furious Johnson wrote in his column for The West that Warner has not 'warranted a hero's send off' this summer despite the opening batsman's long and decorated career.

The comment has torn open old wounds between the pair, after Johnson had earlier called for Warner to be dropped from the Test side during The Ashes, retained by Australia earlier this year. 

Warner intends to retire from test cricket with a farewell game at the SCG in January in the New Year's match against Pakistan. 

However Johnson says Warner does not deserve to get any stage-managed farewell due to his central role in the sandpaper scandal of 2018 which dragged the name of Australian cricket into ignominy.

However Johnson revealed the motivation for his uncompromising column was not just the principle of the issue but an acid-tinged text message that Warner sent his former teammate in April.

'I got a message from Dave, which was quite personal and I tried to ring him to talk to him about it,' Johnson said on The Mitchell Johnson Cricket Show podcast.

'It was never a personal thing then, until that point. That is what prompted me to write the article or part of it as well. It's definitely a factor. Some of the things that he mentioned in that message.

'I won't say it because that's up to Dave to say if he wants to talk about it. There was some stuff in there which was extremely disappointing, what he said, and pretty bad to be honest. That sort of was a bit of a driver.'

Johnson also lashed chief selector George Bailey in his column, questioning why Western Australian fast bowler Lance Morris was being rested from Sheffield Shield games, and copped another text message in return from the former Australia one-day captain.

'He'd sent me a message after the Lance Morris article. It was just a bit condescending. Typical George sort of stuff. When you receive at odd hours in the morning, it was disappointing,' Johnson said. 

Johnson also doubled down on his attacks on Warner in the podcast. 

'It sort of feels like it ties in. The selectors have talked about picking guys on form,' Johnson said.

'If you look at David's form, because the article is about him. His form in England wasn't great. So you sort of go that's not picking someone on form. 

I've written good articles about David as well. I've always said that I'm a very different thinker. I'm not a traditional cricket player. I didn't play a lot at a young age. I didn't grow up with it as much as others. I always questioned things and had a different thought process.

'And I probably was set off by receiving a message from him [Bailey] at odd hours in the morning and him not showing the respect to make a phone call. That's pretty much that.' 

Johnson also teed off on Bailey's public response of stating: 'I hope he (Johnson) is OK'.

Johnson took that response as a dig at his previous mental health issues.

'To ask if I'm OK [by George Bailey] because I've had mental health issues is pretty much downplaying my article and putting it on mental health, which is quite disgusting,' he said.

'I'm fine. I'm not angry. I'm not jealous. I'm just writing a piece that for me I felt like I needed to write.

'It's basically having a dig at someone's mental health and saying that I must have something going on, a mental health issue, has made me say what I've said. That's not the truth.