Mojo Mitch

In a generally hilarious article in this morning’s Guardian, Stuart Clark has written a staunch defence of Mitchell Johnson, saying that all he needs is wickets to build his confidence back up. Merv Hughes has also joined in the chorus, suggesting that Ben Hilfenhaus bowled worse at Brisbane than Mojo Mitch and that Johnson shouldn’t be judged too harshly on the basis of one performance.

That sentiment would have more worth if Johnson’s performance at Brisbane was a one off, but he has been more of a liability than a bonus for Australia for some time. His statistics for 2010 make quite startling reading: in nine tests since the start of the year he has taken twenty-nine wickets at an average of 39.68 and scored 155 runs at an average of 10.33.

An apologist for Mojo recently explained these statistics by pointing out that he had played two tests in India, but that doesn’t work either. In the two tests in India his average, buoyed by an impressive five for in the first test, was a respectable 32.62. In New Zealand, where he took twelve wickets in two tests, he averaged 23.08, but in Australia, in three tests, he has averaged 66 and in England, in helpful conditions against a basket case of a Pakistan batting line-up, he managed three wickets at 72.33.

His batting, so powerful against South Africa, has also gone to pot. Of those 155 runs, 117 were scored in three innings. This means that he averages 3.17 in his other twelve knocks, which would barely be acceptable to Chris Martin, let alone a test number eight. Unless pitches are minefields when he is batting and then mysteriously flattening out when he has a ball in his hand it is clear that he is not cutting the mustard.

These stats would be less damning if he was, at least, keeping it tight, but he has gone at over four an over in seven of his last seventeen tests. You’ve got to take a lot of wickets to compensate for that, and, at the risk of being blunt, he isn’t.

For all the talk of targeting Andrew Strauss, England don’t fear him. His record in Ashes tests is twenty wickets at 41.05 and 105 runs at fifteen, although sixty-three of those came in one innings when the game was already lost. Take that out and he averages seven with the bat against England. To put that wicket tally in context, of Australians with twenty or more wickets in Anglo-Australian tests only Steve Waugh and Stan McCabe have worse averages, and they were both predominantly batsmen.

Two statistics do support his inclusion at Adelaide, however. The first is that he averages 23.78 with the ball there, although only 14.33 with the bat. The second is that he has been more successful in second tests of series this year than any others – he averages just 24.10 with the ball in those circumstances, helped by ten wickets in a match against New Zealand. However, both of these facts should be qualified: firstly, he averaged 16.17 with the ball at the Gabba before this week, and secondly his average in third tests this year is 135, so even if he survives to Adelaide it may not be prudent to keep him for Perth.

I’m indebted to Trev for some of these stats. The main reason for dropping Mitch is that I fear for my friend’s health if he is retained.