Mitchell Johnson Takes A Dig At Cook And Broad For Their Ashes Failure

With his broad shoulders, aggressive demeanour and, mighty moustached look, Mitchell Johnson took the Mickey out of world’s best batsmen. On his day, he could fire five different kinds of smoke and for his no nonsense approach to the game, was a fiesty contestant and above all, a pure Aussie.

Even as Mitchell Johnson is well into the third year of his retirement from the game he so often decorated with hostile spells of bowling, its hard to keep Australia’s former left-arm seamer out of action.

Taking a dig at the despicably out of form stars- batsman Alastair Cook and seamer Stuart Broad- Mitchell Johnson said if two of England’s big occasion players failed to lift themselves up from their current state of mediocrity then Nathan Lyon’s wish of seeing some English players’ careers ending post the Ashes might just come true.

Traditionally, the Ashes have often been linked to its notoriety with putting a bleak end to many a sizzling Test careers. In the past, the Ashes series contested in 2013-14 saw the end of Graeme Swann’s career who retired after a lackluster series. Also putting an end to their careers were Kevin Pietersen and Michael Carberry, the former never seen in the test whites after 2013 and the latter, quite funnily lost into oblivion after England’s Ashes debacle.

As it is, England that are 3-nil down in the series with the Ashes urn returning to Australia’s grasp- one that looks tight and firmly in control of the proceedings- England have to now play for a face saving effort.

With two tests yet to be played in Melbourne and Sydney, it remains to be seen if England’s out of form batsmen that also includes captain Joe Root will come to the party. However, Johnson offered an interesting suggestion for the fourth Ashes Test that is to begin on Boxing day. “Going to the next test, I think England will have to think about changes. I’m not sure if Stuart Broad is up for it at the moment. As a senior player, there are question marks around him”, Mitchell Johnson said in a probing voice.

But all that said, no other player has been having as hard a time as one of England’s all time great Alastair Cook. So far, Cook- minus any half centuries, let alone a hundred- has managed all of 83 in the Ashes series so far. Even Mitchell Marsh, making a promising return into the Australian playing eleven answered back critics with a defiant 181 at Perth. So the question is can Cook find some lost fire?