Australia’s main fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will be looking for a different Ashes experience from his first. In 2009 Johnson came to England on the back of an impressive couple of years for the Aussie’s and the paceman was backed to destroy England and help Australia defend the Ashes. It didn’t work out that way though and although Johnson took a respectable 20 wickets during the series, he didn’t have anything like the impact he was hoping for as England reclaimed the urn thanks to a 2-1 series win.
One of the problems that Johnson seemed to suffer from in England was the ability to bowl consistently under pressure. At times Johnson looked extremely dangerous only to then go through an eccentric spell, fizzing balls in at different lengths and paces. Since then the Queenslander has managed to find some consistency to his bowling and will be looking forward to playing on Australia’s quick pitches.
At 29, Johnson is the most experienced member of Australia’s bowling attack and will have to burden the majority of the pressure when the opening Test comes around at the end of November. The left arm bowler has admitted he built up the last Ashes series too much in his head, something he is determined to avoid this time round, “I think I’ve learned that lesson now and I’ve experienced that and now I’ve adjusted to the pressures of, I guess, being a leader of the attack as well. So I’m looking forward to this series, it’s something I’m very excited about.”
Johnson will be leading an attack likely according to those placing a cricket free bet to consist of Ben Hilfenhaus and either Doug Bollinger or the returning Peter Siddle, with Nathan Hauritz as the probable spin option. While this line-up is far from the intimidating attack of old, it’s still a very capable one and England should definitely not underestimate it.
If the Johnson manages to produce some of his best form, then betfair cricket pundits believe that Australia will have a very good chance of reclaiming the urn and extending England’s winless record on Australian soil for a while longer yet.
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