Ashes series: English gear up for Mitchell Johnson

Birmingham: Joe Root is confident England’s latest collapse against an Australia pace attack led by Mitchell Johnson won’t still haunt them come the third Ashes Test at Edgbaston starting on Wednesday.

 

Left-arm fast bowler Johnson took 37 wickets at 14 apiece as Australia thrashed England 5-0 on home soil to regain the Ashes in 2013/14. Johnson, however, was mocked by England fans while going wicketless during the first innings of Australia’s 169-run defeat in Cardiff in the opening match of the current Ashes campaign.

 

It was though a very different story in the second Test at Lord’s, where Johnson had match figures of six for 80 during Australia’s crushing 405-run win that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.

 

England captain Alastair Cook may be in better form than Australia counterpart Michael Clarke but that counted for little as the hosts, with Johnson taking three cheap wickets, slumped to a humiliating 103 all out in their second innings. 

 

But a defiant Root said of Johnson: “It’s wrong to single one man out. You look at Cardiff and he only got two expensive wickets so it’s about putting him under pressure.”

 

England have responded to their drubbing at Lord’s by dropping Gary Ballance and promoting the experienced Ian Bell — himself struggling for runs — to Ballance’s positon of number three.