Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson promises to hurt England in Ashes

MITCHELL Johnson, back bowling at a fearsome 160km/h, says if he can't dismiss England's batsmen he'll "bust" them in the looming Ashes series.

Mitchell Johnson

THE hype around the Ashes has started to thicken as menacingly as some of the recent mists over Sydney Harbour. It has not been easy for boats trying to enter Circular Quay, but if noises from the Australia camp are a guide then navigating choppy waters will seem a doddle compared with facing Mitchell Johnson when the first Test gets under way tomorrow week.

As expected, Johnson was named in the squad of 12 yesterday alongside George Bailey, who is set to make his debut at No. 6 aged 31, and James Faulkner, the vibrant all-rounder who played at The Oval in August.

Faulkner has been retained as an option because Shane Watson is again struggling to bowl because of a hamstring injury.

To add to the excitement at events around the opening of the new Centre of Excellence in Brisbane, Michael Clarke, the Australia captain, also claimed that Alastair Cook had given him the England side during a conversation at a Remembrance Day service in Sydney on Monday, with Chris Tremlett supposedly earmarked as the third seam bowler.

Even before John Inverarity, the national selector, read out the names - the Australia names, that is - Johnson had spoken provocatively about his plans for England, and Jonathan Trott in particular.

Dennis Lillee has been helping Johnson with the mental and technical aspects of fast bowling, and would have approved of the bloodthirsty tone.

"Trott has come out and said he is not worried about the short ball," Johnson said.

"We saw what he was like in the one-day series and he definitely did not like it. If I can get a few of those rearing balls towards the ribs, or a throat ball, it is his fault if he gets in the way.

"You would rather get the wicket more than anything, you get a lot of joy out of that, but last summer I busted Sangakkara's finger so they were one short. If you can't get them out, that is the second option."

Not surprisingly, Trott has been working on the short ball as well as his alignment at the crease. He spent almost an hour one to one with Andy Flower, the team director, as rain forced England to the indoor nets for a second day in a row before the final warm-up against an Invitational XI at the SCG, which started today.

Brad Haddin, the vice-captain, claims that Johnson is bowling faster than ever and Ryan Harris put his pace at 160km/h. It sounds fearsome in principle, and may well be in practice if Johnson manages to keep his left-arm high and his line straight. However, as Trott himself recently said: "We do not fear anyone."

Harris, who is likely to share the new ball with Johnson, denied that Australia are trying to frighten England with words. "Batsmen just don't like it that fast," he said. "I don't know if it is a deliberate tactic to scare them, but I do know that Mitchell Johnson is scary.

"If we can get Mitch cranked up . . . I am not saying we want to hurt people, but if he means he wants to take lots of wickets, I hope he does. England have had the Ashes for too long, and we want them back. People here are frustrated. We want to give them some joy, play similar to the way we did in England, but a bit better. If we do that we think we can just about win."

Interestingly, Bailey, the newcomer, was himself ruffled by Harris in the Sheffield Shield last week. Bailey averaged only 18.28 in the first-class competition for Tasmania last season, but has won the place with prolific form during the high-scoring one-day series in India recently. Many judges consider Alex Doolan, Bailey's Tasmania team-mate, to have a better technique for the longer format.

Now that Australia have made their choices, Flower hopes to be in a better position to do likewise after the four-day match versus the Invitational XI. Steven Finn, despite an expensively wayward start to the tour against the Western Australia Chairman's XI, believes that he is at sufficient ease again with his old 23.75-metre run-up to hold his own.

If nothing else, the choice of Finn would show that Clarke was bluffing in predicting a recall for Tremlett, whose career has stumbled since his success in Australia in 2010-11.

"He has not announced it yet, but I know this is their XI," Clarke said with high chutzpah before reeling off the names, 10 of whom are all but known as long as Matt Prior recovers from his torn calf.

Despite his confidence, Clarke gave himself a get-out. "He doesn't exactly know that yet, but I know that is the XI that is going to take the field."

Whether or not Finn plays, the Middlesex bowler has at least found clarity in his game.

"I was a bit confused at the start of the year, but at the end of the English season I bowled as well as I ever have," he said.

"The shorter run-up worked for a while, but I did not feel it was going to work in the longer term.

"I am content with the way I am going through the crease now. There is good momentum there and not too much of a jump. And I have not kneed the stumps for quite a while so that is out of my repertoire now. I hope I do not have to talk about it again."

The Times