da blaze casino： Mitchell Johnson has admitted that the death of Phillip Hughes in November 2014 had caused a mental block and a dip in pace.
da imperador bet： ESPNcricinfo staff30-Jun-2015Mitchell Johnson has admitted that the death of Phillip Hughes in November 2014 had caused a mental block and a dip in pace.Hughes was struck down by a bouncer while playing a Shield game last season on the cusp of India’s tour to Australia. Several players, including captain Michael Clarke who had considered Hughes as a brother, were emotionally affected and Johnson has said he was just trying to “get through” it all.Johnson had been a menace during the Australian leg of the 2013 Ashes. Intimidatory bowling at scorching speeds fetched him a bumper haul of 37 wickets in five Tests in November 2013. In the five matches since – he was sidelined from the Sydney Test against India with injury – he took 21 wickets with no five-wicket hauls. Johnson’s ability to strike fear in a batsman had seemingly decreased.”I’m not someone who makes excuses, but we went through a bit of a time just before that with Phillip Hughes and that was something very difficult, and it was really hard to sort of deal with it at times,” Johnson told . “We were definitely underprepared at that time and my pace was definitely off. “I probably wasn’t fully right, fully mentally right, there at that time, so I just got through.”On English shores now for the 2015 Ashes, Johnson feels he has crossed those hurdles. He will be rested for their second tour match against Essex on Wednesday prior to the first Test in Cardiff on July 8. But his five wickets against Kent last week indicated he had relocated his venom.”I was really happy with how I bowled,” he said. “I felt really good, good rhythm, good pace, something I was really excited about here was bowling with those Duke balls. “Since I got here, I just feel it in the air, there’s something I don’t know, it’s just really, really exciting at the moment – and my job is to bowl fast.”But he isn’t the only threat among Australia’s bowlers. The carefully managed Ryan Harris is back. Josh Hazlewood’s ability to swing the ball makes him one to watch out for and Mitchell Starc is quite rapid as well. Johnson knows he can’t take things for granted.”It is healthy competition and something I remember when I first came into the team,” he said. “You sort of get taught that when you first come in; you’ve got to bowl well in the nets, you’re playing for a spot.”Every game that I’ve been playing I’m sort of taking it as though it is my last game, and just going out there and enjoying it. “I don’t think I have anything to prove, and if I put that pressure on myself it is not going to work in my favour.”
