Former Australian Test captain Mark Taylor believes Mitchell Johnson's explosive takedown of David Warner and George Bailey was valid but too personal in its delivery.
Johnson unleashed a scathing attack on Warner and Bailey in a column for a Western Australia newspaper on Sunday.
The 42-year-old called out Warner's sub-par Test form while suggesting Bailey gave preferential treatment to players he played alongside.
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Johnson also referenced the fallout of the 2018 Cape Town ball-tampering saga but later said he regretted doing so.
Speaking on 2GB's Wide World of Sports, Taylor assessed the incident as a commentator for Nine who regularly has to comment on players and individuals.
"I think as commentators, and Mitchell Johnson is now a commentator like me, you have got to look at things, analyse things and comment but you've got to try and take the personalities out of it," he said.
"I don't have a problem with anyone talking about numbers, facts [and] data but when it gets personal, that's what you don't want, and I think Mitch has already admitted that he made a mistake in that regard.
"But, there's nothing wrong in my opinion as a commentator with someone like Mitchell Johnson making a comment about whether he thinks George Bailey should have done this or should have done that.
"That's OK but make sure it's based on facts and data rather than personal feelings. That's probably the only problem out of all of it."
With a bat-off currently playing out in the Prime Minister's XI to decide Warner's replacement in Australia's Test team, Taylor backed the veteran opener to partner Usman Khawaja at the top.
"For the next three Test matches that's going to be the case," he said.
"I'm sure the selectors would have thought, 'Do we make a change now?', and that would have been the thing they would have tossed up based on the fact that David has not been in great form in red-ball cricket — obviously in white ball cricket he's been terrific.
"The last three years have not been very profitable for him but he's been a great player for a long time.
"They would have tossed up, do they throw a [Cameron] Bancroft or a [Matt] Renshaw or a [Marcus] Harris in now, give him three Test matches rather than give David the send-off that he would have liked and I think a lot of Australian cricketers and Australian supporters would like as well.
"They've made that decision and that's going to stay for three Tests. The West Indies part of the summer will be the time when the Australian selectors look for one of those three guys I mentioned to start filling that void because bear in mind we've obviously got Warner retiring in Sydney and then you've got Khawaja who is also 36.
"He's probably only got one or two seasons left in him so we're possibly going to need to find two openers in the next 12 to 24 months. So, we've got a bit of work to do."
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