Aussie cult hero Mitchell Johnson drops another bomb

Aussie cult hero Mitchell Johnson has come in from the long run again with the Aussie team in crisis ahead of the Adelaide Test.

Aussie cult hero Mitchell Johnson is at it again after watching the Aussie team fall apart during the first Test in Perth.

The legendary speed demon last summer dropped a bomb with a stunning attack on David Warner ahead of the former opening batsman’s farewell series.

The Western Australian has now penned another explosive column where he has called for Marnus Labuschagne to be axed for his own good ahead of the toss of the coin at Adelaide Oval on December 6.

Johnson wrote for The Nightly, Labuschagne would still have a chance to earn a re-call to the Aussie team even with the No. 3 batsman turning 30 this year.

Johnson is far from the only Aussie cricket commentator calling for Labuschagne to be dropped.

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Johnson wrote Labuschagne will be best served by avoiding Indian destroyer Jasprit Bumrah for now.

“Marnus Labuschagne — after a lengthy poor run with the bat — should be replaced for the second Test in Adelaide,” Johnson penned.

“And that’s not for the sake of having someone pay the price for the thrashing in Perth.

“I honestly believe the best thing for Labuschagne at this stage would be to be left out. It would give him a chance to play some Sheffield Shield and club cricket away from the pressure of playing for your country and I feel he would benefit from that more than going out there trying to survive against Jasprit Bumrah and co.

Mitchell Johnson and Marnus Labuschagne.

“Some will say, hold up a minute, it’s just the first Test of a long summer. But this has been going on for a while. In his past 10 Test innings, he’s passed 10 just once.

“Dropping Labuschagne, 30, would not mean he doesn’t still have a long future in the Test team or that he’s the wrong player to bat at three.

“For the time being in this form slump though, we need him to be better – which means making big runs, not bowling bouncers and risking the potential of injury when that’s the job of the bowlers in the team.

“Cricketers get dropped at some point of their careers and it’s about how you bounce back from that. With him at the moment, it’s not through a lack of trying everything to get better and bat his way back into form. He’s trying to fight through it in the middle but it’s not currently working.”

Labuschagne is now averaging 30.28 in Test cricket since February last year and just 13.66 in five Tests since the start of the series against the West Indies in mid-January.

Leading Australian sport commentator Gerrard Whateley also said on SEN Cricket the meek nature of Labuschagne’s LBW dismissal in the second innings in Perth showed he needs to be replaced.

“It’s a scrambled mind, it’s a lost technique,” he said.

“You cannot go out there without the intention to use your bat. It’s so symbolic of where he finds himself in his game.

“He’s going to have to be relieved of his place in the team.”

It has been widely lamented that there are few top order batsmen banging down the door in the Sheffield Shield to demand a spot in the Aussie XI.

“I am seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket,” cricket great Ravi Shastri told foxsports.com.au.

Got him. Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP.

Josh Inglis has widely been viewed as the best player available to get into the team, but he also has limited experience batting up high in the order.

Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris and Sam Konstas were all overlooked as specialist openers ahead of the first Test with Nathan McSweeney promoted to the top of the order on debut.

Johnson wrote in the column: “The next question becomes, who do you pick? I keep hearing that there is no one in shield cricket. Well, that’s quite insulting if you’re one of the domestic batsmen hearing this who would do anything for the chance of a baggy green”.

Despite the kerfuffle, the Australian team — coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins — have shown Labuschagne their full support.

He took 52 balls to make just two in the opening innings and backed that up with only three in the second in Perth, caught LBW in horror fashion after leaving a ball which was cannoning in to the stumps.

Despite the lack of runs, McDonald said Labuschagne, who has scored three Test centuries in Adelaide, was the “player that we need” should he find his best again, which would be the aim between now and the December 6 start.

“We look at the way he plays, and when he’s at his best,” McDonald said.

“And when we’ve seen him at his best he’s shown great intent at the crease.

“That’s an ongoing discussion and that ebbs and flows in players’ careers, so at the moment he’s in one of those patches and no doubt he’ll be getting critiqued externally.

“But internally we’re really confident that, at his best, he’s the player that we need.”

Originally published as Aussie cult hero Mitchell Johnson drops another bomb