Johnson relishes Eng crowd abuse

 Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has insisted he is relishing the role of being the man English crowds love to hate.

Johnson was subjected to prolonged vocal abuse as England won the third Ashes Test by eight wickets inside three days at Birmingham’s Edgbaston ground to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series. While it may not have been quite as vicious as during England’s 2009 series win, when Johnson had to cope with chants about his family as well as a derogatory song which mocks him for bowling left and right, it was certainly sustained and reached something of a crescendo on Friday’s final day at Edgbaston.

Now Johnson is bracing himself for more of the same at Nottingham’s Trent Bridge, where the fourth Test starts on Thursday. But at the age of 33, the left-arm paceman regards the barracking as a “compliment”.