Johnson wants England skipper Andrew Strauss to be his bunny

SYDNEY - To dominate the England batting line up, Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson will attempt to turn Andrew Strauss into his bunny during the Ashes series.

Johnson said England would disintegrate if Strauss failed at the top of the order.

“Look, I think if we can go after their captain, Strauss, I think if you can get him early at the top order, hopefully (that will) put a lot of pressure on their lower-middle order,” Johnson said on Thursday.

“Being the captain, I think they’ve really looked up to him in the last 18 months, especially after beating us at their home. If we can put a lot of pressure on him then hopefully they can crumble a little bit,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

Strauss was dismissed for just four on Thursday in the tour match against South Australia, but showed fine form last week with an unbeaten 120 against Western Australia.

Johnson also piled the pressure on England opener Alastair Cook, who has scored just 226 runs in his past 10 Test innings and was out for 32 off 91 balls against the Redbacks.

“I guess we saw that the last Ashes - he was probably a bit of a weak link for them. There will definitely be a lot of pressure on him that’s for sure,” Johnson said. (ANI)