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Cape Town - Former Australia quick Mitchell Johnson has finally revealed some of the details of his pre-Ashes Test bust-up with former England skipper Kevin Pietersen.
Johnson released his autobiography, Resilient, this week and discussed the incident, which involved Pietersen pulling balls in the Australian's direction, at length.
The retired paceman wrote: “It wasn’t exactly harmless because we could easily have stood on a ball in our run-ups.
“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.”
Johnson was prevented from striking Pietersen by teammate Stuart Clark, whom he thanked for the intervention.
The left-armer went on: “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.
“I can tell you that this wouldn’t have been a minor scuffle.
“I was pretty disappointed with what he said and it stayed in the back of my mind after that.”
