MITCHELL Cricket Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard isn’t bothered.

Mitchell Johnson’s return to form is imminent, say to Australia coaches Pat Howard and Craig McDermott
MAY 20, 2015 7:00PM



MITCHELL Johnson hasn’t dominated the Indian Premier League as expected, but Cricket Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard isn’t bothered.

Out of form in early 2013 in India, Johnson was overlooked for the Ashes tour. He hit back in amazing style in the return Ashes series with 37 victims.
Last summer was probably the toughest imaginable for skipper Michael Clarke’s men, losing former teammate Phillip Hughes in November.

Troubled by thoughts of what damage his fearsome bouncers could do to opponents, Johnson forced himself to return his focus to making batsmen fear injury.
His return of 13 wickets in three Tests was less spectacular however than the previous home summer and he was rested from the Sydney Test against India with hamstring soreness.
That rest was extended to over a month.
Fifteen wickets in the cutthroat environment of the World Cup, including 3/30 in the final, showed the break was worthwhile.

Australia’s two-Test tour of the West Indies starts with a three-day match against a President’s XI in Antigua starting on May 27. A five-Test Ashes tour follows.
Johnson was given an early mark from IPL duties and missed the last two matches for Kings XI Punjab earlier this month.
Not everyone was impressed with the 33-year-old’s output.

“He took only nine wickets in nine matches and had an economy rate of 9.37 per over, a performance that was at odds with his billing as one of the best fast bowlers in the world,” leading website ESPNCricinfo reported.

Johnson is so dangerous that curators overseas tend to steer away from lively tracks.
“That would be very much in the back of the minds of certain countries when they’re preparing pitches which is a lovely compliment to any player,” Howard told the Herald Sun.

Howard says there’s no special urgency to get Johnson in the side for the Antigua game.

“There’s seven Tests. There’s another five first-class matches,” Howard said.
“You want to make sure your key players are playing at the key times.”
A super-fit athlete, Johnson remains a dangerous proposition.

“There’s questions about when I’m going to retire, I’m sure, or if I’m going to play all formats for the next couple of years, or whatever it is,” Johnson said in February.
“But I’ve just got to focus on the games I’m playing in and play the best cricket I can, and enjoy it.”
Howard says CA’s ability to manage Johnson with short breaks is made easier by 64-Test veteran Johnson’s clear focus.
“He deserves a lot of credit,” Howard says.

“He missed the fourth Test in Sydney. He had much of January off and then he came back really strongly.
“As many players when they hit their early 30s, they really know their game really well.

“People were having all those sorts of questions prior to those Ashes (in 2013/14) weren’t they?
“I remember Michael Clarke said at the time ‘I think Johnson will be man of the series’ and one or two scoffed at him.
“Cricket Australia has a lot of confidence that as soon as we hit the Ashes, he’ll be ready to go.
“He’s in a good space.”

Australia’s bowling coach Craig McDermott says Johnson’s IPL exit enabled the Perth-based paceman “to spend a bit of time with his family and mentally for him just to give him a bit of a break”.
McDermott says Johnson and Mitchell Starc have built up their red-ball training loads during their IPL stints.
“All those guys are ready to go,” McDermott told the Herald Sun.
“It will be just a matter of seeing who needs a rest more than anything else before they play a Test match.”