Do you rate Mitchell Johnson?

[IndGunner]

He needs more variety, get some sort of swing( inswing, outswing or even reverse) And stop bowling outside off. actually wait can we just get a new bowler i like his pace and bounce but thats it...

 

[quick4mindia]

Mitchell Johnson to me ia a pretty average bowler. He has got very good pace and to top that he has stamina. What he lacks is i would say basic skills of a fast bowler.
1. He cant swing
2. He does not know that there is a thing called seam on the leather ball.
3. The release of the ball is as if he was pitching for baseball
4. Most of the time he bowls wide outside the off stump hoping the batsman will make a mistake. That does not seem to happen often though.
5. I may be inclined to give him few points for his batting. His batting may be useful for the shorter version of the game......but can he make it to the team on his batting

 

[IndGunner]

Mitchell Johnson to me ia a pretty average bowler. He has got very good pace and to top that he has stamina. What he lacks is i would say basic skills of a fast bowler.
1. He cant swing
2. He does not know that there is a thing called seam on the leather ball.
3. The release of the ball is as if he was pitching for baseball
4. Most of the time he bowls wide outside the off stump hoping the batsman will make a mistake. That does not seem to happen often though.
5. I may be inclined to give him few points for his batting. His batting may be useful for the shorter version of the game......but can he make it to the team on his batting

His fielding is excellent too even for aussie standards.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

His fielding is excellent too even for aussie standards.

Yeah he has a bullet of an arm, very similar outfielder to Lee.

 

[IndGunner]

Yeah he has a bullet of an arm, very similar outfielder to Lee.

I saw him making some really sweet stops in the delhi test at mid off when lax and gambi were doing ther thing

 

[Manee]

After 13 Tests

47 wickets at 33.76 econ 3.19 s/r 63.30 - Johnson
42 wickets at 32.59 econ 2.76 s/r 67.60 - McGrath

Oh no you did not just compare Mitchell Johnson to Glenn Mcgrath!

He has a really strong action and is a really powerful boy.

Ive said before that Ive often been disappointed with his pace after lots of hype, but he certainly bowls a very heavy ball.

It appears (and I could be wrong) that on the right tracks and in rhythm he can be a real handful. Probably needs to add a little bit more to his game to force wickets when the going is not so fair.

What are his slower ball and bouncer like?

It is a strong action, looks a tad robotic, which probably doesn't help him attempt to generate swing. His pace is good, I'm not sure what hype was generated, but he can and has bowled upwards of 150kph. You are right that he needs more to force wickets; he has a slower ball at 130kph which he bowls quite often through rolling the fingers under (because of the low arm, this is the equivalent of an off cutter) the ball. His bouncer is good, but as a round arm bowler, it all too often fires down the leg side. He often falls into the common trap of the round arm in which balls are along the diagonal line of full outside the right hander's off stump and short outside the leg stump.

Seems like the type of guy who will never be up to much in the domestic scene but will use Tests as a way of stepping up and furthering his game. IMO he can only get better from here on in.

AWTA.

Right now I rate his potential and his stamina - bowls fast all day.

But I reckon he'll be the business in a few years providing injuries don't hamper him too much.

I agree. I can see him producing some good performances in South Africa or England.

I rate his stamina and pace as well as seam movement when he gets it. He just seems to still be working out how to knock over Test batsmen consistently. If he keeps running in all day, he gives himself the best chance of doing that so I'd suggest he'll be in the mix for a while. He's no bowling genius but he's pretty solid.

AWTA

Out of Richard's list the one player I'd slightly disagree with is Jerome Taylor.

I think he's terrific and has so much potential. I can see him finishing his career with 250 wickets at close to the 30 mark.

Taylor certainly looks far more promising than any West Indian seamer has for a while, apart from anything else he's clearly a very smart bowler, you can hear that by listening to him talk even. But the fact that it's been so long (Ian Bishop was the last, and he was 20 years ago now ) since we had a West Indian seamer who was much good that I'm almost wondering if it's ever going to happen again. Reon King could've been damn good I know, but if it's not been lack of skill it's been injury, which Taylor has already suffered from more than once.

Definately. Taylor is a superb bowler imo, or at least has the potential to become such. He can crank it up (up to 150kph in the Stanford Super Series though that was T20 so pace can be taken with a pinch of salt), has good accuracy and gets enough movement.

 

[Prince EWS]

His fielding is excellent too even for aussie standards.

Jason Krejza to disagree.

 

[Uppercut]

Why? He's clearly not got much ability. About all he's done is perform in that Twenty20 thingy. Seems to have given many people mistaken ideas about his skills.

Agree completely with this. While there was definitely players who i rate more highly based on watching their bowling in T20s (Watson's bowling, Mishra), Tanvir's bowling was firstly flattered by his figures and secondly not at all suited to bowling in tests. All that makes him special is that he's difficult to pick up early in a batsman's innings, and he doesn't have the accuracy to take advantage of this in formats that don't require the batsmen to chase him every ball. Not test class and he isn't someone i'd bet on becoming test class either.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Was reading an article about Makhaya Ntini today, and about how much left handers hate facing him as he slides the ball across; Justin Langer mentioned how it was almost impossible to drive him through the covers because of the angle. No-one talks about how Ntini is not a good bowler to lefties because he doesn't swing it in.

Now, here you have Mitchell Johnson, who slides the ball across right handers, and although the angle isn't quite as extreme from the point of delivery as Ntini, he gets a weird shape as the ball goes across the batsman, not unlike that swing that one sometimes gets when throwing a cricket ball. The seam is pointing inwards, but just slides away from the rightie. People talk about how he gets gifted another wicket with a wide expansive drive, yet obviously, when it happens this often, it shows that it's actually a very hard shot to play off him.

Basically, instead of talking about having him "be more like Wasim Akram"/"he'll never be good if he doesn't swing the ball in", I think people have to accept that with his natural angle and movement, he'll always be handful for the right handed batsman, much like Ntini is for left hand batsmen.

 

[Redbacks]

Mitch doesn't put the ball in the channel of uncertainty on a consistant enough basis, if he could redo his action slightly to improve accuracy he will be a much better weapon for Australia.

 

[four_or_six]

I reckon these series against SA will be really interesting in terms of seeing how Johnson is going. If he does well in these, I think a lot of the doubts will be put to rest.

 

[Richard]

Was reading an article about Makhaya Ntini today, and about how much left handers hate facing him as he slides the ball across; Justin Langer mentioned how it was almost impossible to drive him through the covers because of the angle. No-one talks about how Ntini is not a good bowler to lefties because he doesn't swing it in.

Now, here you have Mitchell Johnson, who slides the ball across right handers, and although the angle isn't quite as extreme from the point of delivery as Ntini, he gets a weird shape as the ball goes across the batsman, not unlike that swing that one sometimes gets when throwing a cricket ball. The seam is pointing inwards, but just slides away from the rightie. People talk about how he gets gifted another wicket with a wide expansive drive, yet obviously, when it happens this often, it shows that it's actually a very hard shot to play off him.

Basically, instead of talking about having him "be more like Wasim Akram"/"he'll never be good if he doesn't swing the ball in", I think people have to accept that with his natural angle and movement, he'll always be handful for the right handed batsman, much like Ntini is for left hand batsmen.

The thing is that regardless of how difficult many LHBs find Ntini to play, he's still nothing more than a slightly-above-average bowler.

I think people have higher hopes for Johnson than that, hence the expectations of him to do more than just be like Ntini.

Also, Ntini moves the ball off the pitch away from the LHB (into the RHB). This is what's always made him much more dangerous against LHBs than RHBs. Though that's not to say he's never moved the ball off the pitch away from the RHB.

 

[Richard]

I reckon these series against SA will be really interesting in terms of seeing how Johnson is going. If he does well in these, I think a lot of the doubts will be put to rest.

Well, yeah, but that's applied to pretty well every series he's played so far... hasn't it?

 

[NUFAN]

Was reading an article about Makhaya Ntini today, and about how much left handers hate facing him as he slides the ball across; Justin Langer mentioned how it was almost impossible to drive him through the covers because of the angle. No-one talks about how Ntini is not a good bowler to lefties because he doesn't swing it in.

Now, here you have Mitchell Johnson, who slides the ball across right handers, and although the angle isn't quite as extreme from the point of delivery as Ntini, he gets a weird shape as the ball goes across the batsman, not unlike that swing that one sometimes gets when throwing a cricket ball. The seam is pointing inwards, but just slides away from the rightie. People talk about how he gets gifted another wicket with a wide expansive drive, yet obviously, when it happens this often, it shows that it's actually a very hard shot to play off him.

Basically, instead of talking about having him "be more like Wasim Akram"/"he'll never be good if he doesn't swing the ball in", I think people have to accept that with his natural angle and movement, he'll always be handful for the right handed batsman, much like Ntini is for left hand batsmen.

I think that's a great observation. I'll try and watch one of them in the mirror to see any further similarities.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Anyone else see the highlights of Australia's first innings in Perth last time they played South Africa?

Ntini got out Hayden, Langer and Hussey all pulling, in very similar fashion to how Johnson just got McKenzie (not quite as wide).

 

[Mister Wright]

Anyone else see the highlights of Australia's first innings in Perth last time they played South Africa?

Ntini got out Hayden, Langer and Hussey all pulling, in very similar fashion to how Johnson just got McKenzie (not quite as wide).

Yeah. Showed them yesterday. Very similar.

 

[mobilemen]

He has been one of the best bowlers, I would definitely rate him 10/10

 

[JimmyGS]

He has been one of the best bowlers, I would definitely rate him 10/10

Welcome to CW, but could you now promptly leave again.

Thanks.

 

[mobilemen]

Welcome to CW, but could you now promptly leave again.

Thanks.

everyone has the right to express their opinions here..so do I Jimmy

 

[JimmyGS]

everyone has the right to express their opinions here..so do I Jimmy

No matter how wrong it may be. I agree.