Mitchell Johnson yet to earn reputation as Australia’s key strike bowler
In present times Mitchell Johnson is the main strike bowler for Australia. This left hand fast bowler from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834 has been around for more than 3 years and has emerged as one of their lead strike bowlers. He has taken 166 wickets in 38 Test matches with
6 five wicket hauls.
So far this year he has played in 8 Test matches and has performed exceptionally well in a few of them. For Johnson it has been one dream come true to play for Australia as their main strike bowler.
He has always been sighted as an effective fast bowler and when he came into the international scene he was in the company of the likes of Brett Lee and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stuart-Clark-c2591, good company for a new bowler to learn. For Johnson to be recognized as one of their best
available players now is an achievement. Recently in some vital and crunch matches he has failed to provide those deadly blows which were needed at that time.
In 2009 Ashes series in England he took 20 wickets but was not that effective in keeping English players in check all the time, which was required of him as their lead strike bowler. Though in that series he did get the respect of his opposition and took
some vital wickets throughout the series but overall he was not that lethal in all the matches.
He was not able to take big 5 wicket hauls quite frequently in the series like the one he managed in the fourth Test. Though he was a handful but after the end of series the absence of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Lee-c72382, and McGrath was felt.
The basic attribute for a fast bowler is to develop this fear inside the batsmen and make him as uncomfortable as one can. That
uncomfortable factor was missing and was not that frequent. It was present and visible more after some innings rather than within the innings.
You have to keep your opposition in check throughout and they shouldn’t be allowed to score freely. He bowled some good spells but in some of the spells batsmen made easy runs off his bowling and were not that cautious and fearful of him as they were of
the legendary McGrath.
He was treated as a bowler, who bowls well and can take number of vital wickets but the element of
surprise and the lethal nature of bowling was not associated with him. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 had high hopes of him and he entered the competition as their main strike bowler but during the series he was not associated and recognized as a bowler who can
destroy an opposition in a couple of spells.
The important characteristic of his Ashes tour was his economy rate per over which was quite expensive. He constantly marked a 3.85 to 4 economy rate per over and in one spell he crossed the 6 runs per over mark. He was pretty average throughout the series
but apart from the 4th Test he was not able to draw much attention as Australia’s main strike bowler.
The Ashes is just around the corner now and out of several Aussie players no one is more restless to prove himself than Johnson. So far this year has been a normal one for Johnson with a mixture of good and average bowling. He has played 8 Test matches and
in 16 innings has taken 29 wickets. Out of these 8 Test matches he has two 5 wicket hauls and one 10 wicket haul.
Overall he has bowled well but his economy rate has been a bit of an issue as 3.50 can easily be reduced to 3.25 or to 3.00 per over. For a quality bowler like him he has to be more consistent than anything else.
We all know that for Glen McGrath apart from his superb bowling variety his main strength was his disciplined line and length. He was the master of this craft and that’s what really earned him this legendary status.
In http://www.senore.com/Cricket/March-c74391 in the Hamilton Test against the Kiwis we witnessed the Johnson we all know. He took 4 wickets in the first innings and was even better in the second by taking 6 wickets. He has some amazing spells to his name this year but with the Ashes just
around the corner and the World Cup after that he has to be a much more disciplined and
consistent bowler.
Consistency in bowling would be a big factor for him in the upcoming Ashes. Against India in the Mohali Test he took a 5 wicket haul in the first innings which stopped http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 from scoring an even bigger innings but was not that effective in the rest of the
series.
Against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 he was hardly successful as he not only took many wickets but was not that economical. But no one doubts his ability and talent and he has been recognized as a quality bowler. He would have home advantage against England and this would certainly
add to his favour. He has to correct his wayward spells, other than that he is quite effective as a strike bowler.
Recently he expressed his desire to play England in a home series and said that nothing is more exciting than to represent your country to play against arch rivals England, and he is waiting anxiously to take them on in their own backyard.
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