Mitchell Johnson exclusive: Legend reveals all about ‘homeworkgate’ in an extract from his book ‘Resilient’

IN an exclusive extract from his book ‘Resilient’, Mitchell Johnson reveals he lost respect for Mickey Arthur when he was sacked for not doing homework.

Mitchell Johnson has opened up on his life in cricket in a tell all new book.

Tennis lover Mitchell Guy Johnson, a self-confessed ‘rat bag’ kid, was raised by his young mother Vikki Harber. A chance meeting with cricket legend Dennis Lillee changed his life and exposed him to the disciplines required to become one of our greatest Test fast bowlers.

In Resilient, Johnson talks of his personal injury struggles, periods of self-doubt, dealing with snipers on tour, his mate Watto and the highs and extreme lows he felt when wearing the Baggy Green.

In a wide ranging book, Johnson discusses ‘Monkeygate’, dressing room culture, how the Barmy Army got under his skin and his stoushes with KP. He explores the Simon Katich-Michael Clarke fight as well as the controversy surrounding his relationship with wife Jess.

In an exclusive extract we reveal how a furious Johnson told former Test coach Mickey Arthur that he’d lost his respect when he was sacked for not doing his homework on tour in a team that was becoming increasingly toxic.

MITCHELL JOHNSON EXTRACT: Everything changed when Phillip died

Mitchell Johnson’s book: Resilient

“When you are on-song, fast bowling is the greatest feeling you can have. You are The Man. Nobody can touch you. Batsmen want to get out of your way; even the best of them get that furrow in the brow as they dig in. Their eyes open a bit wider. Their hearts beat fast.” MITCHELL JOHNSON

A lot of things had changed in a relatively quick time in our cricket set-up (around 2011) and I wasn’t that comfortable with some of it.

Tim Nielsen had been replaced as coach by Mickey Arthur, and Ricky Ponting had not captained for a while, and as I said earlier, when he left Test cricket he took something with him.

There were a lot of new people around the set-up. Old hands like our team manager Steve Bernard had been replaced and he took a lot of knowledge out the door with him. There were new media people, new selectors and there had been a complete shake-up of the way things worked, with Pat Howard coming in as high-performance manager.

A lot of the structural changes were driven by the Argus review, which they had after we lost the Ashes at home. They called us all in to ask us what we thought, but I don’t think they really cared what a fast bowler thought. The corporate side of cricket wasn’t my thing anyway, but the team was and things were changing faster than I liked. There were a lot of new people and I couldn’t help but feel that we had lost something.

Johnson was close to Shane Watson, another victim of ‘homeworkgate’.

We got hammered in the first two Tests in India. I have always avoided the behind-the-scenes stuff. I don’t like any politics or backbiting or anything like that; I want to play cricket and get the job done. I had mates but I don’t think that I had enemies or moved in cliques.

When they were looking for a coach I told people they needed to get Mickey Arthur. He’d done a really good job with WA. But it was a bit disappointing how it all turned out. I am sure there was more to it, but there were too many different groups within the team at that point. I think it was apparent from the outside; it was from the inside. People had formed factions. It seemed like there was a young clique who were the ‘in’ group and the rest of us were outsiders.

I remember pretty clearly the day it all hit the fan. We were beaten in Chennai and then smacked by an innings in Hyderabad. I hadn’t played either game because I wasn’t in favour. After that second Test we were told that we needed to write down a few things about how we could do things better ahead of the third Test in Mohali. At that moment I thought I should just go and tell them instead of writing it down. I wasn’t much good at doing assignments. I should have gone with my instincts but I just left it.

Johnson’s searing pace struck terror in to the hearts of the very best batsmen.

We went to Mohali the next day and had a couple of days off and it wasn’t on my mind. I wasn’t in the team and I didn’t have the focus I should have — it was probably a bit selfish, it wasn’t deliberate — but I was trying to manage my way through a long tour of India when I wasn’t playing. I just forgot about it ...

One morning before training I got a call to come up to a meeting with Mickey Arthur, our new manager Gav Dovey and Michael Clarke. As I was walking in, Usman Khawaja was walking out. I had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t look too happy. That’s when they told me I would not be picked for the game because I hadn’t done my homework.

I was absolutely stunned. I didn’t know what to say or do. I think I was in a bit of shock. Usman, James Pattinson and Shane Watson were given the same message. Perhaps the worst part of it was they told me I would have played in that match if I hadn’t done the wrong thing. Why would you tell me that?

During the toxic tour of India Johnson lost respect for then coach Mickey Arthur.

By the time I got to training I was furious and I took it out on the batsmen, particularly Phillip Hughes. Watto decided he’d had enough and left training. His wife, Lee, was about to have their first baby and he figured he may as well go home for that as hang around. I think everyone was cool with that. He was back in time for the fourth Test anyway.

That night I spoke with Gav for about three hours; it was quite intense. I don’t think it achieved anything. I told him that it was ridiculous to miss a Test match for something so trivial. He tried to explain their point of view. I had a chat with Mickey as well, for maybe an hour. I had lost respect for him and told him and he didn’t like it; he was gutted by it. I had to tell him. I was really disappointed in the whole situation, but I took my punishment and moved on.

I copped it a little bit because I was mates with Watto and we would talk a lot. Watto is an honest bloke and that is what I love about playing with him. He speaks up and says what he is thinking and you respect that. He was carrying the torch for the old school. It was the same with Matty Hayden, Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting. When we came into the team, people spoke their minds and were strong in their points of view. They would speak up when it was needed and that was how it had always been, but at that point in time it became almost frowned upon.

Johnson retired from the game as one of Australia’s most potent strike bowlers.

Mickey told me I spent too much time with Watto and that was the real issue here. I was told we were too close, like we were a faction or something. I am sorry but you can’t help but be close to a bloke you have been playing cricket with since you were 19. Usi and Patto got caught in the crossfire. Watto was being punished for speaking his mind about some of the things that were going on and we all went down with him.

The problems between him and Michael Clarke were well known and it just seemed to get out of hand on this tour. There were other minor disciplinary issues with different blokes, but for some reason it all fell on us. It should have and could have been handled so much better. It was a new era and to be honest I wasn’t sure I wanted to be part of it. I certainly felt that way in India and what happened with Huss drove it home.

You could see in the summer that things weren’t quite right in the team. It came to a head after the Sydney Test, which was Michael Hussey’s last. I loved Huss; he was a passionate team man, a good teammate and the person who led us in the team song after a win. He is one of the best guys in cricket and an absolute nuffie with it.

After the match we had a bit of a celebration in the rooms, but then we were told to go back to the hotel and get changed as we were going out on the harbour on James Packer’s boat, which sounded alright to me. I didn’t care that much.

Johnson was chief destroyer in the whitewash Ashes series of 2013-14.

Michael Clarke had organised it and it seemed like a great idea. When we got to the boat Huss wasn’t there, neither were Peter Siddle or Shane Watson. I found out that Huss and his wife hadn’t been keen on the idea and so the others had bailed out, too. If I had known I would have stayed with them. It was a real bummer and it played on my mind for a long time afterwards. I was really annoyed that we had been split up like that and it reflected how fractured the team had become.

People made calls to Huss to get him on board, but he wouldn’t come and then there was talk about us getting off early to go back and join him, but we were trapped on board. When Watto was still angry and on his way home from the Test in India he’d told the journos that he was going home to consider his future as a Test player and I am sure he was.

I was in the same boat. I was thinking that if this was what the team was like, I had wasted my time trying to get back into it. This was not the sort of environment I wanted to play in.

I eventually moved past that thinking and I am glad I did because it would have been an awful note to end my career on. I guess it was easier to do nothing and that was what I did. I just put my head down and worked on proving that I was a better bowler than people gave me credit for.

This is an edited extract from Resilient by Mitchell Johnson. RRP $49.99

Published by ABC Books. Available Monday.

Originally published as Mitchell Johnson exclusive: Legend reveals all about ‘homeworkgate’ in an extract from his book ‘Resilient’