Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson has been sidelined after his listless show in the opening Ashes test match played at the Gabba in Brisbane.
The left-arm pacer who has claimed 160 wickets in 39 test matches had arguably the most disappointing Test match of his career at Gabba. Johnson was hit for 170 runs in the two innings and failed to take even a single wicket as the
English batsmen spanked him all around the park on their way to a huge total in the second innings.
The match ended in a draw yet the lack of penetration on Johnson’s part has cost him his spot in the playing eleven.
Johnson’s axing means that the pacer fails to make it to the national team on the basis of poor performance for the first time in his international career.
At a press conference at the Adelaide Oval the venue of the second Test Johnson maintained a brave face and vowed to make a come back to the international game after ironing out the problems that have plagued him in the last 12 months
or so.
His lean run started in the last Ashes series in England and since then he has been on a downward spiral that culminated spectacularly in Gabba. Johnson who not long ago was being hailed as a genuine all-rounder has endured a wretched
run with the bat too scoring as many as six ducks in his last twelve Test innings.
For Johnson the axing only means a new start, “It’s not the end of the world," he said, "I've come back from stress fractures when I was younger, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834."
In the last game I was trying to do all that work (on my action) during a game, which is obviously very hard to do," he said. "In the end, I need to work things out, go to net sessions, get back in the gym, get my head straight, and
get back into the team."
He found staunch support from his captain Ricky Ponting who claimed that the fast bowler had fought through tough times in his career and he was confident that he would be roaring back soon.
Ponting added that he would stand behind his bowler and help him overcome his loss of form as his record speaks for itself, and he was sure that he would be donning the Aussie test kit soon.
On the other hand Johnson added that he knew what his responsibilities were as the chief striking weapon in the Test line-up, and he had realised that he had led his team down recently with a string of poor performances.
"I'm a strike bowler for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 and I need to get wickets," he said. "In the back of your head, you're sort of thinking [you might be dropped], but I think I've handled it pretty well”, concluded the fast bowler.
Meanwhile opening bowler Ben Hilfenhaus is also likely to sit out the Adelaide Test as the Aussies contemplate on fielding both replacement pacers Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris on Friday.
The two have been impressive in the nets and have generated the interest of the selectors and Ponting alike in the lead up to the match. If the two play then the Aussies would end up fielding one of their most inexperienced bowling
attacks in Ashes history.
The spin department is already banking on one-Test-old Xavier Doherty, hence the Aussies can expect a backlash if Hilfenhaus finds himself on the way out.
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