*Official* First Test at The Gabba

[Spikey]

"Certainly his control has been very good the past two days, and with the new ball if we can get him swinging that new ball, which he's shown he can do at training, 150km/h inswingers are pretty tough to keep out, and if he only swings the odd one even better, because then the batsman doesn't know which one he has to play at."

 

[Prince EWS]

Oh **** no. The one good thing about all the absurd Johnson hype this time was that it was just based around his actual strengths, rather than trying to get him to swing the thing. If Johnson tries to swing the ball he will take 0/120.

 

[Spikey]

McDermott forgot to mention they were bowling with a taped up tennis ball

 

[Maximas]

Isn't Brisbane just gonna be a washout anyway though? Let Johnson bowl himself into obscurity again I say

 

[Ruckus]

Oh **** no. The one good thing about all the absurd Johnson hype this time was that it was just based around his actual strengths, rather than trying to get him to swing the thing. If Johnson tries to swing the ball he will take 0/120.

He's not that good if he isn't swinging it though. He can be a decent bowler if he is bowling with pace and aggression and has his bouncer on target, but it's not enough to justify any hype. Has Johnson ever been devastating without swing being at least part of the equation?

In all honesty I don't think he'll perform any worse, if at all, that Starc did last series, but that's beside the point for me. He is a negative selection in every sense. There is no future, or at least there shouldn't be, for him in the squad, and there were better options like Bollinger to pick from anyway. I hate the fact as well he'll come into the team and all the spotlight will be on him. It's more the fault of the selectors and their ridiculous elevation of his status as a player, but every time he is in the team it's always the 'Mitchell Johnson' show. And that annoys the hell out of me. He has had his time, and any role he plays should very much take a backseat to players like Harris.

 

[Spikey]

i feel like his 8fer against sa didn't feature much swing but it was so long ago

boxing day performance was more short balls that sl played terribly than swing

 

[Maximas]

The slide across and the short ball should be enough if he bowls fairly consistently

 

[Ruckus]

I just think it's too predicable, especially for the English batsmen who seem to play him very well. He needs to get the occasional one to swing back in, because then it suddenly puts all this doubt in the batsmans mind, and they can't leave the ones slanting across them with such confidence. Plus his bouncer suddenly becomes a more effective weapon as well. The problem is though, you try and get him to swing it and because he has no idea how to, he'll start overthinking things, lose confidence and 9 times out of 10 will bowl like garbage - but that's why you just don't pick him to begin with.

 

[Maximas]

In that period when he was bowling a constant slider and the odd good short ball he was always dangerous, I really don't think he needs that many tricks to be a threat, the issue is control for me, swing is just a bonus with MJ a lot of the time.

 

[NUFAN]

Isn't Brisbane just gonna be a washout anyway though? Let Johnson bowl himself into obscurity again I say

Daily percentage chance of rain:
Day 1 - 0
Day 2 - 30
Day 3 - 60
Day 4 - 10
Day 5 - 0

So just the Saturday looking an issue at this stage, but even then, it says scattered showers, so hopefully they happen after stumps..

 

[Maximas]

oh, well I had heard much worse, good to hear, I'm so keen

 

[Ruckus]

i feel like his 8fer against sa didn't feature much swing but it was so long ago

boxing day performance was more short balls that sl played terribly than swing

yeah i cant see much swing from the highlights. 4 of his 8 wickets were from short balls though, and given that was probably on a fairly quick, bouncy wicket it's just not an approach that would be as effective outside of the WACA.

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Daily percentage chance of rain:
Day 1 - 0
Day 2 - 30
Day 3 - 60
Day 4 - 10
Day 5 - 0

So just the Saturday looking an issue at this stage, but even then, it says scattered showers, so hopefully they happen after stumps..

Ah good, I've got my missus 21st on the third day, the rest should be fine

 

[fredfertang]

Daily percentage chance of rain:
Day 1 - 0
Day 2 - 30
Day 3 - 60
Day 4 - 10
Day 5 - 0

So just the Saturday looking an issue at this stage, but even then, it says scattered showers, so hopefully they happen after stumps..

Can't see us quite wrapping it up in two days, but a couple of sessions on the Saturday will probably be enough

 

[Spikey]

Hayden: What the Gabba Ashes Test Means - YouTube

 

[andyc]

"Certainly his control has been very good the past two days, and with the new ball if we can get him swinging that new ball, which he's shown he can do at training, 150km/h inswingers are pretty tough to keep out, and if he only swings the odd one even better, because then the batsman doesn't know which one he has to play at."

Love that they're already admitting he's not really swinging it. At least make the Poms wait until the first over to discover that FFS.

Ruckus' posts just getting me all riled up again. Having not been picked for the England tour I'd really hoped CA had turned a corner

 

[uvelocity]

gonna lol so hard when johnsons tears it up day 1

 

[Cabinet96]

He's not that good if he isn't swinging it though. He can be a decent bowler if he is bowling with pace and aggression and has his bouncer on target, but it's not enough to justify any hype. Has Johnson ever been devastating without swing being at least part of the equation?

Well, I don't know about devastating, but he'd never really swung the thing before he first played in South Africa but he still travelled as your best bowler. He even took an 8 wicket innings haul and 11 wicket match haul against a strong South Africa lineup without swinging it.

I don't know why he has to be devastating though. I'm not sure any bowler has ever had so much unnecessary and stupidly extreme hype and dread associated with themselves ever before. It seems in the eyes of some there's only two types of Mitchell Johnson who show up; either this guy who's the greatest bowler of all time, or some some second rate grade cricketer having a bad day. It completely ignores the fact that for most of his career, he's been in the middle of that spectrum, and that it's only the odd series where he's really devastating or terrible.

Am I the only one who thinks his performance at the Gabba will just be something of a reflection of his last Shield game? Probably 3-4 wickets, but a bit too expensive to really keep the pressure on, and probably undoing the work of Harris and Siddle in the process. All this talk about how he'll win Australia one test, and make it impossible for them to win the other four is just complete crap IMO.

 

[GIMH]

gonna lol so hard when johnsons tears it up day 1

The only tears will be Clarke's when he realises just what Freddie felt like on the first day of the 06-07 series

 

[Prince EWS]

Well, I don't know about devastating, but he'd never really swung the thing before he first played in South Africa but he still travelled as your best bowler. He even took an 8 wicket innings haul and 11 wicket match haul against a strong South Africa lineup without swinging it.

I don't know why he has to be devastating though. I'm not sure any bowler has ever had so much unnecessary and stupidly extreme hype and dread associated with themselves ever before. It seems in the eyes of some there's only two types of Mitchell Johnson who show up; either this guy who's the greatest bowler of all time, or some some second rate grade cricketer having a bad day. It completely ignores the fact that for most of his career, he's been in the middle of that spectrum, and that it's only the odd series where he's really devastating or terrible.

Am I the only one who thinks his performance at the Gabba will just be something of a reflection of his last Shield game? Probably 3-4 wickets, but a bit too expensive to really keep the pressure on, and probably undoing the world of Harris and Siddle in the process. All this talk about how he'll win Australia one test, and make it impossible for them to win the other four is just complete crap IMO.

Yessssssssssssssss