Johnson’s Mother blamed for His Loss of Form

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Sreelata YellamrazuJul 23 2009

Mitchell Johnson is currently being dissected for arguably his worst performance on the international stage thus far. And personal problems have crept in for an Australian fast bowler again.

ponting mitchell

Glenn McGrath did not take kindly to digs about his wife, Jane McGrath, who was then suffering from cancer, and got into an ugly confrontation with Ramnaresh Sarwan in Antigua during West Indies’ historic victory.

Andrew Symonds’ relationship with booze rather than women was blamed for his downslide. There were rumblings and nasty rumours that Adam Gilchrist’s wife had delivered a baby who was fathered by Michael Slater that did not leave room for both Australian cricketers in the same dressing room. Slater himself was involved in a verbal scuffle with Rahul Dravid when Slater’s divorce to his childhood sweetheart was coming through.

The recent meltdown came from Brett Lee who withdrew from the home series against Bangladesh after the divorce situation with his wife, Liz Kemp. And he has not been the same since, injuries or otherwise.

Mitchell Johnson is now in serious threat of not being picked for the third Ashes Test of 2009 at Edgbaston over his incredibly poor bowling performances, especially at Lord’s in the second Test. His mother, Vikki Harber, spoke out about his relationship with his karate champ fiancée, Jessica Bratich and of her being separated from her son as a result of that relationship.

Former England bowler, Angus Fraser, whose success came primarily in series against the West Indies, believed Johnson had a confidence problem and that was a serious issue for the spearhead of an attack. Others believed Johnson’s techniques were catching up with him while others alleged that it was his personal turmoil that have affecting his on field accuracy. Meanwhile, Harber herself expressed disappointment over her son’s performances and hoped that he would know that his mother loved him very much and that he should simply concentrate on cricket.

The only man who did not let what was happening off the field get to him was serial womanizer, Shane Warne. The legendary leg spinner now believes that Johnson needs to put his personal problems behind him and focus solely on the game. As has been found out in the past, that is easier said than done.

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