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December 3, 2010

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Johnson out of Brisbane test

MITCHELL Johnson has been dropped from the Australian squad for the second test against England after failing to take a wicket in the drawn Ashes series opener in Brisbane.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting revealed yesterday that Johnson had been omitted from the 12-man squad, leaving Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris vying for his spot.

"The selectors felt that he is just down on a bit of form and down on a bit of rhythm. I think that was probably highlighted in the last game," Ponting said.

"As we all know, the game of test match cricket is hard enough as it is without having to try and find those types of things in the middle."

Australia's starting XI won't be announced until just before the toss today. The first test in Brisbane ended in draw, with Australia only able to take one wicket in England's second innings despite having a commanding 221-run lead after the first innings.

England reached 517-1 against an ineffective bowling attack, with Johnson attracting much of the criticism after returning 0-170, dropping a catch and scoring a duck in Australia's innings.

Johnson has vowed to fight his way back into the Australia side.

The left-arm quick has often been described as mentally fragile but the bowler insists his problems are purely technical and that he is confident of rediscovering his form.

"It's obviously disappointing but it's not the end of the world," Johnson said. "It's very hard to take in, as playing for my country is a big deal for me. There's a few things that I'll work on in the nets. Getting away from all the hype and getting in the nets is probably the best option for me instead of trying to work it in the game."

Frustrating

Johnson added he had some frustrating moments in Brisbane "but mentally it felt fine."

"In the past if I didn't get wickets or struggled I'd have been getting my head down and yelling into my hat a lot," he said.

"l thought I handled it pretty well. I need to keep working on my bowling and get everything together.

"I've come back from stress fractures and being dropped from the Queensland squad. I'm going to work very hard. A lot of players before me have been dropped and worked their way back in."

Meanwhile, England skipper Andrew Strauss presented a straight bat to questions about batsman Kevin Pietersen's undiplomatic tweeting, saying it was a good thing all his players were not as boring as their captain.

Pietersen branded Adelaide groundstaff "pathetic" on his twitter feed on Wednesday after they failed to cover the nets during a rainstorm, forcing England to train indoors.

Strauss said Pietersen had not breached England's code of conduct over the use of social media and rejected the suggestion that the use of Twitter should be banned in the team. "I wouldn't prefer all of my players to be exactly like me, it would be a pretty boring dressing room," he said.




 

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