Ashes news: Mitchell Johnson sets his target on Strauss
As the curtain sets to unveil the ultimate showdown between England and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, the players of both teams are leaving no stone unturned as they crank up the pre-Ashes hype.
The war of the words before the actual Boxing Day is always considered important as it supports the hype around the historic Test series.
The latest pre-Ashes banter comes in the form of Australia’s “attacking” leader, Mitchell Johnson who promised the Ashes and Australian fans that he will make England’s captain Andrew Strauss “crumble” with his bombardment of short ball bouncers.
Both sides understand the importance of edging out an earlier “psychological” advantage ahead of the first Test in Brisbane to be held in just two days beginning from Thursday.
Johnson, who showed off his new “wildcat” tattoo in a photo shoot, conceded that he and his team-players understand the need of building psychological pressure on the English men. He admitted that they know the English player’s weaknesses and their strengths,
especially England’s captain’s vulnerability for the “short balls.” Johnson promised to give spectators a great show as the “tattoo-laden” bloke from a small town of 300 inhabitants of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-South-Wales-c823 has thought up a game plan to weaken the English captain.
England’s Captain Strauss, who was the leading scorer led his side to win the world’s smallest trophy, the urn, in summer of last year’s Ashes, and is known to be having a lot of experience with the back foot. He is famous for his “expertise”, however the
Kangaroos are only focusing on his dismissals four years ago. The Aussies are not forgetting Strauss’s first mistake when Andrew Flintoff was leading the club.
The 29 year old left arm seamer said that he has been doing a bit of studying and “looking into the footage” of the skipper. He said that Strauss fails to deliver when he is being bowled “higher up his chest” and if the Aussies needs to get it right on the
money then they need to bowl “aggressively.”
The importance of the captain is also highlighted by the 29 year old attacker who said that once the captain of the ship is taken out, the rest of the team has a mental setback. The same theory applies to England as the players really “look up to their captain”
therefore the Aussies would be “targeting Strauss to weaken the English top order and make them think negatively”, Johnson said.
Johnson might be studying the techniques of Strauss but the media has not been short of criticising the bowler as some have been suggesting that he needs to concentrate on his game. He has been getting a lot of bad press from the past year with gossip mills
churning out reports about his personal life. His steady girlfriend Jessica Bratich’s mother publicly criticised him during last year’s Ashes which is said to be affecting his focus in the game.
He recently gave eleven wides during his club, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834 exhibition match and his bowling spells have been hostile at best.
However, the left arm quickly dismissed the negative press saying that he is ready to “make up for the past 15 months.” He said that he is “mentally strong” now and would try to get his team in a better position.
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