Australia’s Mitchell Johnson celebrates after taking the wicket of England’s Graham Onions. AAP Images
There’s no doubt Mitchell Johnson will play at the ‘Gabba come November 25th in the first Ashes Test. Like many, I’m not sure he deserves to be there.
Based on potential, Johnson deserves to carry the mantle of Australia’s ‘strike bowler’. Based on form, the reality is that he should not be selected in the current Australian Test team.
When Johnson first burst onto the international scene, I fell in love with his raw fast bowling prowess and his enterprising batting displays. At one stage pundits were suggesting he could bat at six as the team’s all-rounder.
His all-round cricketing form against South Africa buoyed Aussie fans who thought he had filled the strike bowling vacancy created by Glenn McGrath’s retirement. The fact that he could bat was an unexpected and welcoming plus.
Johnson’s dramatic form drop in the 2009 Ashes series was heartbreaking from an Australian point-of-view. The off-field ‘home and away’ style drama involving a three-way love/hate mess with his mother and girlfriend splashed onto the cricket pitch like hydrochloric acid to the face. It was ugly, and it clearly affected his ability to perform on the pitch.
Phar Lap was now running like a donkey, and the selectors didn’t have the heart to put him down. Like many budding cricket stars, he might’ve benefitted from being dropped from the team.
Since then his form hasn’t really recovered, yet he’s still favoured by Cricket Australia as Australia’s no.1 fast bowler. His inclusion in the bloated Test squad mirrors the current selection policy of picking players based on past feats and reputation, as opposed to current form.
After Johnson’s return of 1/128 from three one-day internationals against the plucky Sri Lankans, and his less than flattering debut for the Western Warriors in the Shield competition, the alarm bells must have been ringing very loudly in the Australian camp.
The fact that the Australian hierarchy sent him to the Perth WACA grade competition to search for form is indicative of this. It would have been a worthwhile exercise if he was returning from injury, but trying to find form in a local grade competition is a worrying sign.
What’s worse, his performance for Wanneroo against Claremont-Nedlands was questionable. 1/24 from 10 overs aren’t bad figures … if you don’t count the 11 wides he sent down.
And the Claremont-Nedlands openers didn’t seem to be overly impressed – one remarked that he wasn’t really bowling fast, the other was more polite stating the pitch wasn’t conducive to fast bowling.
Another concern for Australian fans was Johnson’s statement saying Brad Haddin had instructed him to “just run in and bowl fast and don’t think about anything else.”
But isn’t that just the problem? Great fast bowlers use more than brute force – great bowlers use their heads and out think batsmen to dismiss them. At Test-level, bowling flat-out fast is not enough. Just ask Shaun Tait.
And while I’m at it, I thought Troy Cooley was the bowling coach, not the wicket-keeper! If I was Cooley I’d give Haddin a big can of shut-the-fudge-up.
All this aside, Johnson needs to find form and find it fast – for his and Australia’s sake.
With the pressure mounting on the selectors to make some stronger decisions at the selection table, they won’t be so lenient on Johnson if he has a bad start to the upcoming Ashes series. Two sub-standard Test matches and they may be forced to drop him back to his adopted state.
With the likes of Ryan Harris, Peter George and Mitchell Starc improving and pressing for selection, he may find it difficult to return to the Test arena if he is demoted.
Johnson has been making some bold statements in the media in the lead up to the battle with England, however, he needs to cut the chatter make a big statement with the ball for the Warriors in their Sheffield Shield clash against Victoria.
This pre-Test hit-out is a very important match for him – a solid performance against the Bushrangers will give him some momentum going into the First Test and it will give the English batsmen something to think about.
If he can’t find form against the Vics then he, and Australia, could find it hard going against a confident English side who are sure to make the most of wayward and inconsistent bowling.
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
Ponting came out in a press conference and declared his man-love for Ryan Harris, so I reckon he may get the gig. Johnson will have to bowl like lightning in the nets to play in the Adelaide test.
Glennbaby
Guest
Mitch out. Dougy in. Pretty simple.
The Camel
Guest
Johnson will be in the 1st test team.As a result of 3 matches on the "Gabba',.taking 19 wickets at an average of 16. I will go out on a limb.And predict that he will take 4 first innings wickets and set the tone for the match.
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
By no means am I satisfied with Johnson's good performance for the Warriors - even though it's a step in the right direction, he needs to do the business against the Poms.
Rabbitz
Guest
So then you accept medicrity in a national team then? One good match in a couple of dozen over a couple of years is good enough? Well Tom, I heartily disagree. To be on top means having a good game more time than not. Mediocre is NOT good enough for a national team in any sport. As for "spin", call a spade a spade. Spin = lying. If he wants to lie in press conferences and blithely deny reality he is not worthy of being in a national side. His form sucks and has done for sometime. He should have been man enough to admit it and maybe, just maybe, pull his head in and do the work needed to get up to form or cut his loses and pull the pin. Like a lot of people who work hard for a living, I have run out of patience with so called 'sports stars' who get it all served up on a silver platter and then think the punters are morons and try to make believe that they are not past it. As a sports journo you should be able to see this how it is: a fading sportsman desperately trying to hang on to past glories (not that he had many in the first place).
Bayman
Guest
...is the difference between love and like!
Fisher Price
Guest
One swallow...
betty b
Guest
Johnston just hasn't been the same since he left QLD. Come back son, and bring a few of your old QLD mates with you. We'll get you back on track.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
The only problem with Hilf is that he has a touch of the Kaspers. In terms of line, length and movement he looks great; but like Kasprowicz he somehow fails to get the wickets he looks as though he deserves. That said, Hilf has to play as does Harris. Bollinger then is probably third, and even if four pacemen are used (which would be understandable, given Hauritz is still the best spin option and is not a good one) Johnson isn't next. There are probably half a dozen or more who should be ahead of him.
Lolly
Guest
I was kind of hoping that Johnson would get dropped actually. I think he responds pretty poorly to expectations at international level. It is a shame, he is very talented, probably apart from Punter the most naturally talented player in the team, but his temperament is shite. I'm a Warriors fan and they badly need some real grunt in their attack and I thought he might have slotted in well. I didn't expect him to take the Vics to the cleaners with bat and ball though. Arthur must be very pleased, he's always been a fan of Johnson.
Lolly
Guest
No, they wouldn't have. There is no such thing as squatter's rights in the Aus team. Paine looked such a sensible player unlike the reckless Haddin, but as a few people have said, the selectors are too close to the players now. And there would have barely been a discussion about Haddin's right of return, I'm sure.
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
All this bullish talk and defelecting poor form through the media is rampant in all sports now - many sportsmen and coaches would make great politicians. In saying that, Johnson is making us eat our words - as well as knocking off a fine century, he's taken a 5 fa against the Vics ...
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
I totally agree about the wicketkeeping situation. I get the feeling the selectors think they owe Haddin because he was Gilchrist's understudy for so long. I also get the feeling Haddin believes he is owed the chance to have a decent stint behind the stumps for the same reason. It's been reported that the selectors have become too 'chummy' with the players, and therein lies the problem. I remember when selectors were faceless and ruthless. Now they hold press conferences and announce who their favourite players are. Far out.
Rabbitz
Guest
Johnson summed up his, and the teams problem, in an interview on the ABC. In the interview he was quizzed about his bowling form slump. His answer astounded me. He said "Form Slump? Yeah I read about that in the paper, I feel I have been bowling as well as ever..." Well if mediocrity, is seen as being as good as ever, then the current mob are completely stuffed - No Hope. I was dumbstruck at the arrogance and complete disregard for reality. So who is to blame? Clearly the Coach is telling them that "it's OK, don't listen to the big bad boogey man in the newspaper, you are doing just wonderful my little princess". Well Mitchell me ol' mate, bring it in tight, the bloody coach is lying to you. You are out of form, out of touch and hopefully, out of the team.
jameswm
Guest
Hussey has been poor for 20 months too. If the selectors won't drop them, and James Sutherland sticks with the selectors, what will change? Guys like Khawaja, Ferguson, Smith, Harris, Starc, George, O'Keefe and Paine are really starting to put their hand up. They must continue to do so and hopefully they'll work their way in. A disheartening event, which has received little press, is that Haddin had struggled on and off with his keeping and his batting has always been inconsistent. Paine comes in for a few tests and shows he is everything Haddin isn't - a consistently reliable gloveman and a scorer of runs at times of crisis. So what happens after Paine excels in 3 consecutive tests? He's dropped as soon as Haddin is ready, without so much as a thank you. Where are the press releases that Haddin's spot is under serious threat? I'll bet the selectors didn't even think about that one.
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
I think there's a few guys that have been underperforming for that period, it seems that if you have a rep then you'll be untouchable. I think the guy that will lead the Australian bowling attack is Hilfenhaus, he's quality. Hopefully his body will hold up.
Tom Dimanis
Roar Pro
He'd probably be a better option at 5 than Hussey at the moment! Reminds me of when Paul Reiffel hit a purple patch with the bat at no. 8 but was struggling to take wickets
Fisher Price
Guest
Johnson's been bowling mostly rubbish since the tour of South Africa. So, what's that - 20 months of under-performance? Sure, he can bat, but that doesn't help Australia's bowling effort.
Boes
Guest
Cleary the selectors have him in the squad as a batting allrounder. Slot him in a 5 or 6, he can average 30 with the bat and might be able to jag a wicket or 2.
Brett McKay
Guest
He finished 121* Tom, so perhaps a promotion in the WA order might be in order!