Friday, September 13, 2013

Australia's Mitchell Johnson stakes his Ashes claim against England

Australia's Mitchell Johnson stakes his Ashes claim against England

Softly spoken paceman has unhappy memories of the Ashes but he has been a real threat in the one-day internationals

This rain-drenched one-day international series has revealed very little of a positive nature, especially on the English side. There is no certainty that Michael Carberry can bat comfortably at the highest level or that Ben Stokes, who finds himself batting two places lower than Chris Woakes did in the Oval Test match, is really a bowling all-rounder. Perhaps more evidence can be gleaned at Cardiff on Saturday, where the ball should remain dry – unless it is deposited into the river Taff.

There is a bit of certainty on the Australia side and it revolves around one of the more curious cricketers of the era. Mitchell Johnson is back and bowling as fast as he has ever done. In this series he has touched 92mph and he has bounced out two of England's champions, Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott. Johnson is currently swift, on target and a real threat. Expect him to play at Brisbane in just over two months.

Johnson is not so sure about that. Despite his 205 Test wickets he has never quite fitted the identikit of the Australian fast bowler, which can be an amalgam of Dennis Lillee, Merv Hughes, Glenn McGrath with a touch of Ryan Harris. For all to be well with the world an Australian fast bowler should be menacing, brash, craggy and noisy. It is not obvious that Johnson is any of those things. He is soft-spoken, shy and self-effacing. But he can bowl at 92mph!

Listen to him on the forthcoming Ashes series. One assumes he should be saying something along the lines of wanting to get his teeth into the Poms, to deliver some bruises, to spill some blood. Instead he says: "To be honest, I don't want to think about that. I need to take one game at a time. You start thinking too far ahead and you start to lose focus. It would be nice to get back in there. We've still got a fair bit of cricket, the Champions League, one‑dayers against India, and the start of the Australian summer with a couple of four-day games, which to me are very important. If I'm performing at the right time hopefully I'll get selected." Well, it's hardly the battle cry of the Lillee and Thomson era.

Johnson will get some stick – even in Brisbane – because he always does and because it is expected that thousands of Poms will be there singing about him in uncomplimentary terms. On the 2009 Ashes tour that unnerved him, as he is prepared to admit now. "I didn't like it when I first came over. I'd been in some pretty good form throughout 2009 and I didn't really expect to cop as much flak as I did.

"Now, it doesn't bother me. It's all part of the game, I know what to expect now. I just take it on board and move on with it. I've said this before, you start to sing the songs in your head, it's pretty catchy."

Johnson also admits how disappointed he was to miss the recent Ashes series but he is not about to concentrate solely on the Twenty20 gravy trail. "I want to play Test cricket, that's my No1 form of the game. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to play against England and win an Ashes series."

He should not worry. He will get his chance if he remains fit – unlike so many of his peers – and keeps showing how he can bowl straight at 92mph. He has another opportunity to demonstrate his rehabilitation at Cardiff on Saturday, when Australia can seal the series with a victory.

Australia cricket team
Mitchell Johnson
Cricket
England cricket team
Ashes 2013-14
Vic Marks

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