Shane Warne said on Wednesday that paceman Mitchell Johnson will shake up England’s batsmen with his searing speed in the Ashes series that starts next week.
The Australian leg-spin great ramped up the war of words ahead of the November 21 Ashes opener in Brisbane by saying that the enigmatic left-arm quick was now a more mature cricketer. While he has been plagued by erratic line and length at Test level and was the target of a merciless campaign to unsettle him by England’s travelling support in 2010/2011, Warne said Johnson was now a changed bowler.
‘He’s forced his way in through bowling some serious pace. He’s going to shake the English side up,’ Warne said in Melbourne. ‘He’s a bit older, a bit more mature and knows his role a bit better, knows his body better, knows how he bowls. His role’s going to be go out to just bowl quick,’ he added. Johnson, who made his Test debut in 2007, has taken 205 wickets in his 51 Tests at 30.93.
The Australian leg-spin great ramped up the war of words ahead of the November 21 Ashes opener in Brisbane by saying that the enigmatic left-arm quick was now a more mature cricketer. While he has been plagued by erratic line and length at Test level and was the target of a merciless campaign to unsettle him by England’s travelling support in 2010/2011, Warne said Johnson was now a changed bowler.
‘He’s forced his way in through bowling some serious pace. He’s going to shake the English side up,’ Warne said in Melbourne. ‘He’s a bit older, a bit more mature and knows his role a bit better, knows his body better, knows how he bowls. His role’s going to be go out to just bowl quick,’ he added. Johnson, who made his Test debut in 2007, has taken 205 wickets in his 51 Tests at 30.93.