Johnson says confidence as a bowler has returned

MELBOURNE - Having scored an unbeaten 121 for Western Australia against Victoria on Thursday, anyone would have thought that Mitchell Johnson would be satisfied with that performance in the run-up to the Ashes, but no, he was even more thrilled to snare Victorian batsman Aaron Finch with a snorter.

That hostile spell of bowling at the MCG, Johnson says has put him in the right frame of mind for the first Ashes Test against England to be played at the Gabba in Brisbane from November 25.

“It felt good towards the end. I felt I was getting a good bit of rhythm, good bit of pace. They boys were supporting me and were getting pretty excited when they saw a few fly through. Typical fast bowler, you like to see the batsmen jump around. I’ll be trying to do that tomorrow as well,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Johnson, as saying.

“I’m feeling … very confident. Getting a few runs helps as well. I was thinking back to when I was making runs in South Africa [last year], it definitely helps your bowling as well when you have that confidence about you. If I can keep doing that … look out the Poms,” he added. (ANI)