Mitchell Johnson: “England will struggle mentally”
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Former Australia left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Johnson feels that England are starting to crumble in the same fashion they did during the 2013/14 Ashes series.
In the 2013/14 Ashes series, Johnson played a pivotal role in Australia’s 5-0 whitewash of England as he took 37 wickets at an average of 13.97.
In the ongoing series, England are 2-0 down going into the third Test in Perth on December 14.
“England will struggle mentally,” Johnson said in regards to the rest of the series. “You’ve got guys like Alastair Cook struggling. He can’t find form. And I’d say he’s thinking about retirement. He has played 150 Test matches; it’s got to take it out of you.
“Joe Root is the skipper, and there’s a lot of pressure on him with what’s happening outside the game but also winning the toss and what he did last game was debatable and that’s got to mentally take its toll on him as well. He’ll be questioning and doubting himself.
“We’re still talking about [Ben] Stokes and then there’s [Jonny] Bairstow who I thought was a little bit up and down, whether he was going to be their next senior player to step up, and we haven’t seen that yet. They don’t really have a lot going for them to be honest, and I can say that now sitting on the outside – its’ easier to say. That’s just what I see.”
While Johnson believes that Australia have their eyes on the prize, he feels England are “distracted”, especially by all the off-field drama that has plagued them in the lead-up to and during the Ashes.
First, all-rounder Ben Stokes was withdrawn from the Ashes squad for his alleged involvement in a street fight outside a nightclub in Bristol in September.
Fast forward to the first Test in Brisbane and reports emerged that England wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow had headbutted Australia opener Cameron Bancroft. However, both Bairstow and Bancroft played down the incident and insisted that there was nothing malicious about it.
The latest player to find himself in hot water is Ben Duckett as he allegedly poured a drink over pace bowler James Anderson’s head when the England team were at a bar in Perth.
“It’s not easy coming here [to Perth]. After seeing in the first two Tests, once the wickets had quickened up a bit – Brisbane, Adelaide – the short ball was really effective and this is not going to be any easier for them,” Johnson said. “[From] what I’ve seen now the Australian team is focused on what they need to do.
“Very similar to 2013-14, we just knew we needed to prepare ourselves the best way at training and then get ourselves physically and mentally right for the game. And it wasn’t thinking we were 2-0 up, it was just starting a new game. Seems like they’re in that sort of mind frame too.
“England seem like there is a lot of stuff going on off the field at the moment for them. I think there’s a lot of distractions. Think they’ll be deflated from the last performance because it was talked about that was their best chance of winning in Adelaide: pink ball, conditions suited them more. And we saw what Jimmy Anderson did for the team: he bowled 11 overs straight when the conditions suited him and his bowling, which I found quite interesting [and] his comments after that as well.
“They were on a high and then to be deflated the way that they did, probably coming into the last day thinking they were going to win, and then for the Aussies to get that early breakthrough and roll through them, that’ll be mentally hard for them to come up into this Test.”
Johnson is currently in Perth preparing for the upcoming edition of the Big Bash League, where he will represent the Perth Scorchers, who are the reigning champions.
However, the 36-year-old opted not to bowl against the Australian team in the nets as he doesn’t want to ruin their rhythm and concentration.
“I definitely would have had a bowl, I’m in my season now,” he said. “Been bowling with a red ball at training down at my club, so would have been nice to come and have a bowl but, at the same time, I think I would have been a bit nervous if I did slip a short ball in especially not this part of the series, we’re going along really well.
“I didn’t talk to the bowlers about much, more how they’re feeling and giving a little bit of feedback on what I’ve seen. Just rhythm and lengths and stuff like that. I still think they’ll get better throughout the series. They haven’t all clicked together and, I think, once they do click, we’re going to see a pretty potent attack.
“The [quicks] all bring something different and the good thing about these guys is they’ve played a lot of junior cricket together, they know each other really well – which is a huge bonus, to be able to know your mate who you’re bowling with at the other end… you could sit at mid-on or mid-off and you’re helping your mate when he’s bowling in a spell, if he’s not going so well you know what to say to him, if he’s going well you know what to say to him.”