×

When Mitchell Johnson and Kevin Pietersen almost had a physical altercation

It was Stuart Clark who intervened and stopped Mitchell Johnson and Kevin Pietersen from getting involved in an incident that could have been as ugly as the Joe Root-David Warner brawl.

Related articles

Mitchell Johnson (left) and Kevin Pietersen involved in a verbal spat on the fourth Ashes Test at MCG on December 28, 2013. (Courtesy: AFP)
Mitchell Johnson (left) and Kevin Pietersen involved in a verbal spat on the fourth Ashes Test at MCG on December 28, 2013. (Courtesy: AFP)

The Ashes 2013-14 was the last series that Kevin Pietersen played in before he was booted out of the English side for being a ‘disruptive influence.’ He was known to get under the skin of the opponents and in this case he had fired up former Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson in the wrong way. The left-arm pacer tore apart the English batting in the series as they reclaimed the urn with a 5-0 victory. One of the most intense rivalries contested in the series was between Pietersen and Johnson, and they did not even stop trading barbs at each other in the media.

If you thought the spat between them during the Boxing Day Test of 2013 was the worst they got involved, the man himself Johnson confirms that it was not. An incident occurred during the Ashes in 2009 that almost led Johnson “hitting” Pietersen. The retired pacer’s autobiography ‘Reselient’ that released on Monday, digs into the details of that incident. Before one of the Tests, in the warm-up session, Pietersen was playing a few pull shots in direction of the Australian side. “It wasn’t exactly harmless because we could easily have stood on a ball in our run-ups,” Johnson wrote in his book.

[read-also]527268,539267[/read-also]

Here are some excerpts from his book published in The New Daily, which discusses the incident: “I threw a ball back to where he was and I suggested he stop it. Of course, he didn’t. When he hit another one towards me I kicked it as far as I could in the other direction. Words were exchanged and KP [Pietersen] crossed the line in what he said. He got really personal and I’m not going to dignify his comments by repeating them. The red mist descended and I stormed in his direction with every intention in the world of hitting him.”

Here is what happened between them four years later:

It was Stuart Clark who intervened and stopped the incident that could have been as ugly as the Joe Root-David Warner brawl. He adds, “Stu Clark saw it all happen and came rushing over just as we came together and jumped between us. KP is a big guy but I was very worked up. Fortunately, Stu is bigger than both of us because it took a bit to convince me not to go through with what I planned. I am so glad Stu was there. A few years later there was a minor scuffle between Davey Warner and Joe Root in a bar at Birmingham and that had serious ramifications.”

Johnson clarified, “I can tell you that this wouldn’t have been a minor scuffle.”

Johnson and Pietersen spoke after the incident but the former made it clear that the English cricketer had gone too far with his comments. He added, “You can’t bring family or stuff like that in it and I’m sure he knew [he] had gone too far, but he did it on purpose because he wanted to get me going.”

Glad there was no punching as it could have clearly cut short Johnson’s fine career that followed. It was a closely fought Ashes series which England went on to win 2-1 and reclaimed the urn.

trending this week