Melbourne, July 22: Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has the ability to bounce back quickly after his disappointing performance in the second test loss to England, coach Tim Nielsen said on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old Johnson, touted as Australia’s premier seamer going into the series, struggled to achieve consistent line and length at Lord’s and Nielsen said he needed support due to his lack of experience.
“We are not running from the fact that he didn’t have a great test here, but he got better,” Nielsen told reporters on Tuesday.
“The great thing about Mitch is that he is such a quick bloke and such a quick learner. If we can get one or two little things right I’m sure he will be back on track pretty quickly,” Nielsen said.
Former Australian cricketers also joined the chorus of growing criticism about Johnson even as his captain Ricky Ponting stood firmly behind him.
Johnson returned with unflattering figures of 3-200 in the 115-run second Test defeat at Lord’s and former cricketers said a repeat would gift England the easiest of victories in the remaining three matches.
Former left-armer Mike Whitney said Johnson should make way for Stuart Clark if he could not regain control or confidence during the three-day tour game in Northampton starting on Friday.
“I’ve never seen someone go from being absolutely amazing in South Africa to bowling like Johnson at Lord’s where he put the ball half a metre wide of return crease,” Whitney said.
“I think his low-arm action is a big problem. If you’re bowling from over the top like a Glenn McGrath, the only thing that will vary is your length.
“He’s also down on confidence and when you start going everywhere, you think to yourself, ‘Where will this next one go?’. There’s pressure on him to perform in Northampton. If he can’t, I can’t see how Ricky can pick him for Edgbaston,” Whitney was quoted as saying by ‘Daily Telegraph’.
Former fast bowler Geoff Lawson went further by asking: “Why isn’t Doug Bollinger over there as a back-up left-armer?
“Guys like Terry Alderman came back from surgery and bowled with a low arm, but his wrist was always up. Mitch’s wrist is at 45 degrees and should be at 90 degrees . . . I think he’s in severe danger now of missing out on Edgbaston,” Lawson said.
But Ponting is determined to persist with Johnson and is mindful not to load him up with too much information midway through the crunch tour.
“What you don’t want to do with youngish blokes is fill their heads full of too much and have him thinking of too many things all the time,” said Ponting.
“I’ve been there as a batter, and the more information sometimes you can get into your head the harder it makes everything. We have to be careful of the way we manage him over the next little bit.”
Ponting dismissed suggestions Johnson would be dropped for the third Test at Edgbaston next week.
“Of course I can see him playing. With him, it was only a couple of games ago that he was bowling as well as anyone going around.
“There was a lot of talk about Johnson arriving here and everyone wanting to see him bowl and see him bat. That was only a couple of weeks ago. It’s not as if he’s lost everything he’s ever had.
Johnson has played 23 tests and made a big contribution to Australia’s series victory in South Africa this year.
He could be dropped in favour of Brett Lee, who missed the first two tests with a rib injury, but Nielsen said Australia would be cautious about bringing him back too soon.
“The injury that he has is really a bowling specific injury. History shows if you have these injuries and then bring him on again it tends to be six, eight, 10 weeks before you come right. We have to be really careful,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said he would try to ensure that his players enjoyed the rest of the tour.
“I think we have got another five or six weeks in England. We have got to make sure that the results don’t drive how we are feeling or how we act or how we are preparing,” Nielsen said.
The third test starts in Birmingham next week.
—–Agencies