Mitchell Johnson looking to rip into cocky England
Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has said he's looking to rip into the top order of a very cocky England side.
England heads into an Ashes series in Australia with the best chance of retaining the urn Down Under since the 1986/87 series. Johnson says that the comments from various England players are not going
unnoticed.
"They're talking probably a lot more than I noticed before the last series.
Whether they're being cocky or not, that's maybe a confidence thing with them. They've been playing well for probably 18 months," said Johnson on the Sky Sports website.
England has a number of top order players currently in very good form. Captain Andrew Strauss has already scored a century on the tour
of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 while number four Kevin Pietersen seems to be back to his attacking best.
Johnson has said in the not too distant past that he will always look to get the most important players in an opposition team out. Both
of these players fall into the category but it appears to be Pietersen who has got under the seamer's skin the most.
"I
did hear him say that he was on fire [Pietersen] that was about all I heard.
But talking about cocky comments... that's probably one of them. It's just how Pietersen is, it's what gets him going," added Johnson.
Johnson appears to be very fired up and ready to play in the first Ashes Test in Brisbane on 25 November. However, he seems to be fighting
an urge to fire back at England with comments of his own, which will be very frustrating for a dominant fast bowler.
He maintains that Australia's preparation for the Ashes is progressing well and that the poor Test series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 doesn't count for anything
when it comes to playing against the old enemy.
"But
if we go out there and focus on what we need to do, we will win this series, that's the plan, and do it in front of a home crowd and hopefully put a few of those comments away," he said.
Johnson will be the main component in the Australian attack. No other bowler in the team can bowl with the same speed and venom. He says
that if Australia can get stuck into the England top order in every Test then he's not that worried about the rest of the batting line up collapsing.
"If
we can go after their captain, Strauss, I think if you can get him early at the top order, (it will) hopefully put a lot of pressure on their lower/middle order.
Being the captain, I think they've really looked up to him in the last 18 months, especially after beating us at their home," add the quick.
The problem Australia faces is picking one or two players to target through the series because every player in the England team is capable
of producing a good performance. Alastair Cook appears to be the weak link but he was one of the only players to get a hundred in Australia during the 2006/07 series.
"We saw that the last Ashes, Cook was probably a bit of
a weak link for them. But you never know, he can come out here and score plenty of runs.
I don't want to say that he's the weak link, (but) there will definitely be a lot of pressure on him," Johnson ended with.
Betting advice
England have a very good chance of winning in Australia and the odds are in the side's favour. Back England before the side picks up a
win and the odds switch to evens or odds on.
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