Mitchell Johnson aims to re-open England `scars`
Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said he hoped England would be feeling the effect of "scars" from the last Ashes series following a hostile burst during the second Test at Lord`s on Friday.
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London: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said he hoped England would be feeling the effect of "scars" from the last Ashes series following a hostile burst during the second Test at Lord`s on Friday.
By stumps, England captain Alastair Cook (21 not out) and Ben Stokes (38 not out) had taken their side from 30 for four to 85 for four.
That still left England a mammoth 481 runs adrift of Australia`s first innings 566 for eight declared, which featured Steven Smith`s 215 and another personal Test-best score in opener Chris Rogers`s 173.
Johnson took 37 wickets at under 14 apiece as Australia whitewashed England 5-0 on home soil during the last Ashes campaign in 2013/14.
He was far less effective when, on a typically low and slow Cardiff pitch, he returned match figures of two for 180 during England`s 169-run win in the first Test last week.
But Johnson was a different proposition on a livelier surface at Lord`s.
Asked if he had re-opened old wounds, Johnson said: "I hope so. That`d be nice, to have those scars come back out.
"Nothing`s changed for me. It`s always nice to go out there and perform and to bowl at good pace.
"The ball`s been swinging over here too and I`ve really enjoyed that. When the ball swings at good pace it makes it a little more difficult."
Johnson, having been on the receiving end of plenty of taunts from England fans, couldn`t resist a dig of his own as he questioned whether the home side would stick with their much-talked about commitment to attacking cricket under their new Australian coach, Trevor Bayliss.
"We were hoping they would come out and play the aggressive brand they`ve been talking about.
"We hope they come out in the morning and do the same thing."
Johnson added: "I guess Stokes is a very aggressive player anyway so we`d like to see him play some shots and hopefully get a couple of quick wickets in the morning.
"I can`t decide for them, if they want to play aggressive cricket or if they want to go the other way."
England paceman Stuart Broad said a lack of concentration was to blame for the batting collapse.
"It`s always a tricky period when you`ve conceded a lot of runs to then go out and bat for 30 overs," said Broad, who took four for 83 in Australia`s first innings.
"It`s always a big test for you and I think mentally we didn`t switch on for 20 minutes -- and lost four wickets."
England need a further 282 runs to avoid the follow-on and so ensure Australia bat again in this match.
"We`re hoping for blue sky in the morning and our aim is to get up to that follow-on because if we do Australia will have to bat again, and that takes a lot of time out of the game," said Broad.
"Cooky and Stokesy applied themselves, played their game-plans really well.
"There`s no demons in this wicket. We`ve got 16 wickets left in the Test match, so I certainly expect a couple of big hundreds in there at some stage."