Brisbane belting puts Johnson’s future in doubt
Columnist By Luke Doherty, 5 Dec 2011 Luke Doherty is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Australia cricket, Cricket, Mitchell Johnson
Mitchell Johnson commences his return to the Test side (AAP)
Related coverage
You can never say never when it comes to selecting an Australian cricket side (unless your name is Simon Katich). If the past 12 months have taught us anything, it’s that Baggy Green caps are up for grabs, and anyone, apart from Katich, is a contender. Just look at Nathan Lyon.
Katich lost his Cricket Australia contract despite being the best player in the country, and may soon have some company on the list marked doubtful to return.
Mitchell Johnson must surely be at extremely long odds to ever play a Test for Australia again.
The left-armer has a 2011 bowling average that Ricky Ponting would love to have as his year’s batting average.
It seems in the blink of an eye the line of pacemen gunning for a spot in the Australian side has grown dramatically. Johnson, on form, is at the back of the queue.
Standing in his way are Peter Siddle, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Patrick Cummins. Ben Cutting, Doug Bollinger, Trent Copeland, and Ryan Harris.
New Zealand’s meek surrender to the Aussie pace attack in the first Test was a sight that would’ve warmed the hearts of the new selection panel, especially captain Michael Clarke.
The spells contained plenty of venom, but more importantly, they worked. The selectors took a chance and it came off.
A toe injury is currently keeping Johnson in the stands, and will do so for the remainder of the summer. The injury may have saved the Australian selectors from dropping him for the series against New Zealand after a woeful tour of South Africa.
Realistically, is he better than any of the bowlers listed above?
His ability with the bat has always been his trump card, but Pattinson and Starc displayed techniques at the weekend that would’ve had less educated observers thinking it was Mike Hussey.
On a side note, can anyone tell me why Brad Haddin felt the need to throw his wicket away while Starc was proving he was more than capable of keeping the Black Caps at bay?
Anyway … back to Johnson. The left-armer’s inconsistency with the ball has long frustrated fans who see glimpses of brilliance from him. Now he has several pacemen ahead of him who have fire, move the ball and hit good lengths.
Pattinson, for example, rose to the occasion that greeted him in Brisbane. The Victorian went within centimetres of taking a hat-trick, and finished with six wickets for the match.
It seems that what appeared to be a fairly simple road back to the top for Johnson has turned into a never-ending highway drive through the desert.
Plenty of people within Cricket Australia would like to see him make it to the other end, but whether or not he can do so remains to be seen.
Recommend this story.
You can follow Luke Doherty on Twitter @Luke_Doherty and on Sky News Australia.
The Turkey 10
The Turkey 10 teams have now been selected, as Wild Turkey Bourbon's sport sponsorship kicks into the next exciting phase.
Choose which side you're going to support and get in the running to win $2,500!
Simply visit Wild Turkey Australia on Facebook for your chance to win.
Find out more.
- Explore:
- Australia cricket, Cricket, Mitchell Johnson
December 5th 2011 @ 7:34am
sheek said | December 5th 2011 @ 7:34am | Report comment
Crikey Luke,
You’re assuming a lot.
I’ve noticed this increasing trend in media reporting, perhaps at least for the past decade, where every event, or every second event, is treated like some seminal moment, as if everything else will turn on this one event.
Whatever happened to joining the dots over a series of events before determining what is happening, or where things are going?
You could well be right. But NZ hardly put up stiff resistance. There were far too many easy runs & easy wickets to be had in this test. Over several tests/series now, Marsh, Lyon, Cummins, Pattinson & Starc have all made impressive starts to their test careers.
I’ve been around long enough to know players are driven at the beginning of their careers by massive injections of adrenalin, much like the early stages of a romance. It’s how well they perform when the initial euphoria wears that will tell us how good they really are!
I was thrilled like so many others when Bob Massie took 16 wickets on debut. Another 5 tests later, & he was gone. Gary Gilmour was going to be the next Alan Davidson. Yet despite one century & another 90, & hauls of 6 & 5 wickets, his 15 test career fell well short of expectations. And longevity. And so it goes on.
Let’s see if these guys are still maintaining their momentum after 10, or 20, or 30 tests. Then we’ll know…..
Mitchell Johnson may well not return to the test team. But the break might also be a good thing for him, give him the time to reflect on his action & attitude that he has been denying himself. The enforced layoff may work in his favour, forcing him to reassess his entire approach to bowling.
So I wouldn’t proclaim at this point that anyone is certain of his place, or not (except maybe Phil Hughes).
December 5th 2011 @ 8:51am
jamesb said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:51am | Report comment
then again Sheek
if Phil Hughes is dropped, he could go back to shield cricket, re-model his technique, score runs, and hey come back into the test side a more complete mature player.
Hughes, believe it or not has scored more than a thousand test runs, and over 5000 first class runs. He has done that with a suspect technique.
What it tells you, is Hughes does have talent, but not the right technique. Bowlers like Lyon, Cummins and Pattinson have all good starts to their careers.
However if those three are still playing test cricket and still doing well in 2 years time, then Australian cricket is in rude health.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:51am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:51am | Report comment
Hughes is young enough, and talented enough, to forge a succesful career but he definately has a few things to work on. It’s better for him to do this at Shield level rather then in the Australian side but he’ll get at least one more chance in Hobart.
Given the result at the GABBA I don’t see the selectors making any changes to the first XI, maybe Cummins for Starc if he’s fit but that’s it. From all reports Watson won’t be 100% (bowling wise at least) so they’ll want to make sure that he’s right for India. I’m not sure if they’d play Marsh after such a long lay-off either. Christian in as an all-rounder is an (unlikely) wildcard but that would result in them having to reshuffle the whole batting order so I don’t see that being a major option either.
December 5th 2011 @ 7:57am
Tony said | December 5th 2011 @ 7:57am | Report comment
Brad Haddin just about always throws his wicket away. It’s what he does.
December 5th 2011 @ 8:49am
Chris said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:49am | Report comment
Maybe he did throw his wicket away. But he did score 80 runs before doing so. Not bad for a wicket-keeper…
December 5th 2011 @ 8:34am
Johnno said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:34am | Report comment
Wow I got moderated for saying Mitch johnson was useless and good riddance lol. Mitch is useless he has done nothing for aussie cricket the than 1 or 2 match winning test matches. The team is so much better with out Mitch, blind freddy can see that.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:50am
Fisher Price said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:50am | Report comment
I agree.
December 5th 2011 @ 8:52am
Chris said | December 5th 2011 @ 8:52am | Report comment
I wouldn’t be getting too carried away with that performance. There are only two things to take out of the first Test.
1. NZ is very ordinary. Perhaps more accurately, bloody awful.
2. Phil Hughes is dangerously close to getting dropped again. I’m a big fan and would like to see him persisted with, but getting out the way he did in the second innings just made we want to throw something at the TV. Hard to think of a more bone-headed dismissal in recent times…
December 5th 2011 @ 9:03am
jamesb said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:03am | Report comment
i agree Chris
i don’t know why Hughes played that shot in the air towards the slips. Clearly he is in a confused state of mind.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:51am
Fisher Price said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Yeah, it showed no discipline whatsoever.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:03am
Brett McKay said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:03am | Report comment
Luke, it’s funny you mention Doug Bollinger in your pack there – and funnier still that he features in the Vodafone ads this summer – because I reckon he has even less chance than Johnson of earning another Test berth!!
December 5th 2011 @ 10:09am
Terry Kidd said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:09am | Report comment
Agreed Brett
December 5th 2011 @ 10:18am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Poor Doug was very harshly treated I think, similar to Katich really. He has a test average of just under 26 and we discarded him after one poor test where he was clearly not fully fit. Then again he hasn’t been able to get his body 100% right since then, and is currently injured right now, so he’s not exactly answering the lingering questions over his fitness very well.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:53am
Fisher Price said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:53am | Report comment
Bollinger can be proud of his Test career, but he’s clearly not a captain/selectors’ favourite.
Let’s not kid ourselves – were it not for injury, Johnson would have played in Brisbane.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:06am
jamesb said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:06am | Report comment
Brett,
Hilfy and Bollinger are long odds to play test cricket again
December 5th 2011 @ 9:17am
Brett McKay said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:17am | Report comment
James, Hilfenhaus is at least taking regular wickets for Tassie, he’d be a good way in front of Bollinger for a recall, for mine
December 5th 2011 @ 10:09am
Terry Kidd said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:09am | Report comment
And agreed again
December 5th 2011 @ 9:15am
Johnno said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:15am | Report comment
Will chris rogers ever play test cricket again. Interesting point, he ha sheen an unlucky cricketer, but making a lot of runs this year. Surely if the selectors were being honest with themselves he would be a better option than Phil Hughes right now. Or ed cowan.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:56am
Brett McKay said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:56am | Report comment
Johnno, I don’t think Chris Rogers bowls fast enough to be considered for the new ball…
December 5th 2011 @ 10:54am
Fisher Price said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:54am | Report comment
A bit like Copeland then!
December 5th 2011 @ 1:49pm
Johnno said | December 5th 2011 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
lol Brett, no he doesn’t, nor does Mike hussy or pointing and they are still in the team. Work that one out Brett.
December 5th 2011 @ 10:10am
Terry Kidd said | December 5th 2011 @ 10:10am | Report comment
Hughes will stay until Watson is fit
December 5th 2011 @ 9:16am
Justin said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:16am | Report comment
Really have no idea why Starc gets a runs other than being a left armer. Copeland is far superior.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:51am
EP - Rugbywits said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:51am | Report comment
I think Copeland is a better bowler too. He is about as likely to get a wicket, but doesn’t give away as many runs inbetween getting them.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:58am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:58am | Report comment
I’m a huge fan of Copeland, and agree that he would have done a better job, but he has struggled to take wickets so far this season in the Shield despite bowling very economically. Though he did pick up 5 in a Ryobi Cup game last week, which is strange because he has traditionally been poor in the shorter formats.
December 5th 2011 @ 11:02am
Fisher Price said | December 5th 2011 @ 11:02am | Report comment
Because of the obsession with pace.
December 5th 2011 @ 9:44am
Matt F said | December 5th 2011 @ 9:44am | Report comment
I think Johnson’s career was basically over after the SA tour. His injury has just saved the selectors the task of dropping him.
We need to be careful about annointing players as the next great hope after a single test. Every player that gets to the level will produce a brilliant performance if given enough chances but it’s producing good, consistent results that make a test career. The starts for Lyon, Cummins and Pattinson have been fantsastic but lets not go over the top just yet. Remember that we were proclaiming Johnson as the next great one not too long ago…..
Haddin is always a chance of playing stupid shots. It’s the way he always has, andalways will play. Thankfully he had 80 runs behind him when he did it this time