Mitchell Johnson’s early mentor blames Australian bowling coaches for his demise at Gabba
Only one wicket-less Test has reopened the debate about Mitchell Johnson’s skills to handle the pressure of 133-year-old Ashes battle but Brett Mortimer, the first bowling coach and early mentor of Johnson, has blamed the Australian bowling coaches for the
demise of the pacer during the Ashes opener in Brisbane, where the star pacer returned wicket-less for the first time in a Test during his three-year career.
After the drawn Gabba Test where Johnson finished 0 for 170, former Australian cricketers queued up to lead a move demanding Johnson’s axing from the second Test squad. Ian Chappel and Mark Waugh are the two prominent names asking to drop Johnson calling
him ‘one dimensional’ and that the England line-up has ‘worked him out’.
But his early mentor, the coach of Queensland, came up quickly to counter the qualms about Johnson’s capabilities blaming Craig McDermott and Troy Cooley for Johnson’s poor form in last week’s Brisbane opener.
“He looks so burned out I just really think he needs a month away from the game,” said Mortimer. “He’s been playing so much cricket and everything just looks like it has got on top of him.”
Mortimer had coached the 29-year-old left-arm at http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834 and was there to help him reignite his cricketing career when he lost his state contract in 2003.
Mortimer feels the reason behind Johnson’s recent demise is the presence of too many hangers-on around him and has asked to take him out of the spotlight of the series to work on his own game.
“There are so many hangers-on around Mitch, blokes like Truck [Cooley] and Billy [McDermott], and I think that is half of his problem,” he said. “The problems with Mitch’s bowling look pretty easy to fix to me. He is not getting his hip through and not getting
his bowling arm high enough. He also has to have a lot more patience.”
The 2009 ICC Test Player of the Year had complained, in the past as well, that he was losing concentration on his pace because of too much advice.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746, in all probability, will go into Adelaide with three pacers. With Ryan Harris and Doug Bollinger having been recalled to the squad, Johnson would have to impress the selectors in the nets during the next couple of days to get a nod for the Test
match.
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