Johnson’s puzzling form hints at deeper problems
Roar Guru
By vinay verma, 20 Jul 2009 Vinay Verma is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Cricket, Mitchell Johnson, The Ashes
Sport can be a Labrador or a snarling Rotweiler. On the first day of the Lord’s Test Mitchell Johnson bowled with chivalry reminiscent of England’s last great bowler, Sir Francis Drake.
He was profligate to the point of reducing Ponting to gum-chewing apoplexy. Johnson fluffed his lines on the biggest stage of all.
Brad haddin, too, was overcome by the occasion and his work resembled a bag snatcher operating in peak hour Times Square.
Johnson’s waywardness was a throwback to Harmison in Brisbane. A reflection of a troubled soul.
There is something eating away within and it may well be his mother’s disapproval of his fiancee. Reprobation from loved ones can be twice as cutting as that from strangers. You don’t go from being a champion to a chump in one day.
Sport is littered with the fickleness of form. Greg Norman’s meltdown at Augusta and IBF’s shank at the British Open come readily to mind.
The brooding despair of Shaun Tait and Maradonna’s flirtation with cocaine are altogether more worrisome as they reflect a malaise in society. And it is not just modern society. Humanity has been afflicted with mood swings since that first fateful bite of the apple. The poisoned chalice as another bard put it.
The champion always fights his way out of the mire and it is a testament to man’s resilience he is able to do so. The records of Bradman, Lara, Lillee, Warne, Tendulkar and Ponting are all the more remarkable when one considers the personal upheavals that spare no one.
On a lighter note Strauss may have done Hauritz a favour. Because Nathan obviously bowls better with a dislocated spinning finger!
I owe the man an apology. He bowled with imagination and looked the most likely to curb a rampaging England side. He, along with the unheralded Hilfenhaus, have been Australia’s best bowlers.
A Test match is no place to tamper with technique and it was bewildering to see Ponting trying to catch with his fingers pointing up.
This is like a golfer tinkering with his golf swing during a major. Chest high and up it is fine to catch with the fingers to the sky. Anything from the waist down the fingers point to the ground. There is more on the captain’s mind than we know.
England have exposed the inexperience of Australia’s bowling and have left Hughes, Katich and company with a mountain to climb.
The last two days will prove if Australia can escape the confines of their self-imposed imprisonment. The pitch is playing true and Australia have no one to blame but themselves if they lose this Test.
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sheek said | July 20th 2009 @ 10:15am | Report comment
Vinay,
Johnson’s fall from the lofty heights of South Africa is truly spectacular. I think you have hit the nail on the head – the public airing by his mother’s thoughts on his girlfriend & their own strained relationship, must have been like a kick in the guts.
Until then I thought Johnson was a very level-headed, down to earth young man. Very well grounded. However, he is a troubled soul by the looks of things. Problems of the mind are more difficult to detect, & take longer to resolve.
I hope for Johnson’s sake & that of the team, he can find peace of mind sooner rather than later.
vinay verma said | July 20th 2009 @ 10:59am | Report comment
Sheek, it is said the two most pivotal things in a man’s life are his wife/girlfriend and his mother. The saga of mother-in-laws is well documented. The psychology of control,love and the ensuing bitterness are all too commonplace.
Some mother in laws have too much time on their hands. Johnson will learn with time that he has to be his own man and cut the apron strings. Easier said than done.
Spiro Zavos said | July 20th 2009 @ 5:41pm | Report comment
If Venay is right, and he may well be, for how do we explain Johnson’s appalling lapse of bowling form, then Australian Cricket should immediately provide his mother with a first class air ticket to England and seats for the next three Tests. If the reconciliation works, and the WAG, player and mother make up and the bowling improves, then the expense will be a small cost to achieve a much greater benefit for Australia. Right now, Johnson is bowling meat pies his mother could probably belt around the paddock.
vinay verma said | July 20th 2009 @ 6:21pm | Report comment
Spiro, I believe Johnson is a gifted athlete,as evidenced by Lillee annointing him eight years ago. However he is no Tiger Woods or even Roger Federer. Tiger performed amazingly well when he knew his father was ill. Adam Gilchrist had dramas when he scored that fabulous double in South Africa.
Some like Johnson,whose life skills I think are still developing, will learn over time to comparmentalise their concerns.At the moment he is a work in progress. Drop him for the next Test because the Australian Test Team is no place for patients,mental or physical.
I think the Australian Team can do away with the coach and employ a phsychologist. instead. It was not so long ago that Rudi Webster was working with troubled cricketers.
And if the cure is not forthcoming maybe the Team needs to employ a Chaplain (and not of the Charlie variety)
Fred Magee said | July 20th 2009 @ 6:40pm | Report comment
Johnson definitely has some issues – be them technical, not enough miles in his legs or the fact that mother and girlfriend dont get along. I agree with the fact some action needs to be done. If we win or draw this test, then it will be the mother of all miracles. What it wont hide is that (a) Johnson needs to be dropped (b) the top six need to fire for Australia to be competitive (c) catches need to be taken and direct hits cant miss.
Kersi Meher-Homji said | July 20th 2009 @ 7:47pm | Report comment
That was an excellent post, Vinay. Full of insight and clever metaphors.
Yes, we do need a psychiatrist to kill the demons within players. And I don’t mean only Johnson. I also mean Ponting, Michael Hussey, Phillip Hughes among others.
The only cricketer (sportsman?) who performed better with marital and other problems on his head was Shane Warne. He is in England so he should have a chat with Johnson.
Warne hated team coaches. I wonder what he thinks of psychologists?
But one aspect is certain. Australian cricketers need a pep talk. Who better than Steve Waugh?
vinay verma said | July 20th 2009 @ 7:51pm | Report comment
Shane Warne’s fortress was the playing field(and I mean the cricket field) He was mentally tough. If you recall his first outing at the SCG was 1 for 150 odd. But he came back from there and cemented his place with his match winning performance in Sri Lanka.
You are right ,Kersi,he performed well under adversity. The Tiger Woods of Cricket or the Bradman of Bowling ? Take your pick
Colin N said | July 20th 2009 @ 9:45pm | Report comment
Has Johnson always bowled with such a low arm? I think you’re right about comparing him with Harmison, more technically than anything else. When Harmison is bowling poorly his arm is low and thus sprays it all over the place. I didn’t watch too much of him in South Africa, so he may have bowled the same way, and may just be a complete lack of form and rythem, but it’s just a theory.
Fuzz said | July 20th 2009 @ 9:46pm | Report comment
Was that Johnson who faced the final ball?
If so what was he thinking
vinay verma said | July 20th 2009 @ 10:30pm | Report comment
Colin,his arm was higher in South Africa. The low arn negates his ability to consistently bring the ball in to the right hander and away from the left hander.
If Lee and Clark are fit they must drop Johnson and Siddle. Siddle will be unfortunate as he tries hard and is finding his way in Test Cricket.
Team management must take the blame as Johnson has not bowled well on tour and they must have known about his off field issues. A test match is no place to carry a mentally fragile person. I sympathise with Johnson but sport is about doing what is best for the team. Hilfenhaus and Hauritz desrve to be retained and Hughes is good enough to overcome his failures. Australia still has a better batting lineup and were it not for Flintoff and Strauss England would be struggling.
As ponting said after the match they lost the match in the first session on day one. And that was Johnson ‘s bowling.