Haddin: England were 'petrified' of Johnson

Cricket365
August 15, 2014

Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin reckons England's batsmen were 'petrified' of fast bowler Mitchell Johnson during the Ashes in Australia, and that fear helped the other bowlers do well too.

Australia won the Ashes five nil, with Haddin scoring at least a half century in each Test, and was pipped to the Man of the Series post by Johnson, who took 37 wickets, a whopping 15 more than the next man, Ryan Harris.

Haddin told <i>ABC Radio</i>: "Mitch's summer was something out of the box. I think the one thing is, and Mitch realises it as well, he can't do his job if Rhino [Ryan Harris] or Peter [Siddle] or Lyno [Nathan Lyon] are not doing their job.

"They bowled really well together as a group. Mitch got a lot of the rewards for that because, to be perfectly honest, they were petrified of facing him. We can gloss over it but I think that was an exciting thing about last summer, the pace Mitch bowled.

"But the other guys did an enormous job to support the group. And our slippers caught well."

Next year will see another Ashes series played, and Haddin is keen to be a part of that, but says there is a lot of cricket to be played before then, and he's hoping to keep his name ahead of younger keepers on the team sheet.

He said: "I do enjoy playing against England, I won't lie about that. There's obviously a goal there. I know it's a big cliche but I'm just worried about the small steps in front of us at the moment.

"We've got a big series in the UAE, we've got India here, we've got a World Cup campaign. So it's important not to think too far ahead to thinking about those events and miss the excitement about playing now.

"I have got the World Cup and Ashes in my mind, but I'm preparing to play these other tournaments to keep moving Australian cricket in that direction we want to go."

He continued: "I'm still in front of all the young guys on the training paddock. I'm 36 and I'm still playing. There's obviously some candidates there.

"I've seen young Sam Whiteman come on, who I think is going to be a pretty good talent, and Peter Nevill at New South Wales, I think is a very, very good gloveman as well.

"I'm all about picking the next best wicketkeeper. I think that's what Australia have traditionally done and that's what I encourage all the keepers behind me, to be the best wicketkeeper they can be."