Ashes 2015: Relentless bullying of Mitchell Johnson from Barmy Army in England shows no sign of stopping

COMMENT: IS the harassment suffered by Mitchell Johnson in England any different to the treatment Adam Goodes receives from footy crowds?

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - JULY 31: Mitchell Johnson of Australia preapres to bowl during day three of the 3rd Investec Ashes Test match between England and Australia at Edgbaston on July 31, 2015 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

IS the Barmy Army’s harassment of Mitchell Johnson as he tries to perform at his best in England any different to the treatment Adam Goodes receives from crowds at football grounds around Australia?

Obviously the motivation behind the constant booing and derision that Goodes cops from the moment he runs onto the field to when he takes refuge in the dressing room at fulltime differs from that which sees Johnson the constant target of the English supporters, but the end result is the same.

It is bullying.

Anyone who doesn’t think so either wasn’t at Edgbaston for the third Ashes Test, or is an Englishman.

WHAT DO YOU RECKON? JOIN THE DEBATE IN THE COMMENTS AREA BELOW

How can it be anything but? Because there is an element of humour? Because it is a “sign of respect” as his tormentors claim?

Please. Much as he has done his best to enter into the spirit of the moment — doffing his cap when given a standing ovation after “scoring a century with the ball” at Cardiff, and smiling when bowling from a metre in front of the popping crease on Friday — there is no question that the Barmy Army is out to put Johnson off his game through psychological warfare disguised as “a bit of fun”.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson reacts during day three of the third Ashes Test cricket match, at Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, Friday, July 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

One has to wonder just how much fun it is for the target of the crowd’s “affection” to have to listen to hundreds — maybe thousands — of voices joined in song describing his ability as a professional athlete as “shite”.

And not just once or twice a match. It is relentless, every time Johnson fields the ball, when he warms up to bowl, as he stands at his mark, when he is batting.

He only has to take off his pullover and the chorus starts: “He bowls to the left, he bowls to the right …”

Adam Goodes has had to endure being publicly derided for 80 minutes, once a week. Johnson is currently copping it for hours at a time, three, four, five days on end.

And if you think that won’t wear you down, you weren’t on one of the trains heading back from Birmingham to London on Friday night, packed with drunken supporters in full voice. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment.

And it is getting worse. The song has taken on a life of its own.

On Saturday, during a football match between Birmingham City and Leicester City, it was sung on the terraces. On Friday, fans leaving Edgbaston watched on as a truck driver tried to back into a tight space, singing, “He steers to the left, he steers to the right. This lorry driver, his driving is shite.”

Funny? Of course it is, as long as you’re not the lorry driver.

In past Ashes campaigns England supporters have come armed with a full songbook, packed with clever ditties making good-natured fun of the Aussie players. This time around it seems most of the pages have fallen out.

No other member of the Australian team has received a fraction of the attention focused on Johnson, and it appears to be having the desired effect.

On Friday, Australian captain Michael Clarke jogged over and gave his key fast bowler a sympathetic pat on the backside when, as the crowd noise reached a crescendo, he lost stride and aborted his run-up. Clearly rattled, he then bowled from way in front of the crease.

Asked by an English journalist after the match about the crowd noise throughout the match Clarke refused to be critical, or suggest the targeting of Johnson was anything but fun.

“I think it’s fantastic,” he said. “I think it’s good. It pumps the whole crowd up, it gets everyone involved. I think it’s great for the game.”

Just not so great for Mitchell Johnson’s game.

Not that complaining would do anything but alert the England supporters that their campaign of “mental disintegration” — as Steve Waugh would call it — is working, and spur them on to greater volume.

Besides, they believe right is on their side, and they probably have a point.

As Barmy Army member Chris Hunt said of Johnson, “he should take it as a compliment … and anyway, I was at the MCG in 2013. What Johnson is getting now is nothing to what our players got then.

“There was no singing down there mate; it was straight out abuse.”