Mitchell Johnson to consider his future

MitchellJohnson

Left-armer Johnson made a stunning return to Test cricket in Australia's 5-0 Ashes thrashing of England, claiming 37 scalps in the whitewash.

His pace and bounce caused no end of problems for England's batsmen and his success continued in South Africa, with 22 wickets helping his country to a superb 2-1 win against the world's number one side.

The 32-year-old has battled injuries in recent years though, and missed the recent ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh due to a toe problem.

He has set his sights on tormenting England again in the 2015 Ashes series and when asked if his body could withstand playing all three formats of international cricket, Johnson told Cricket Australia's website: "Probably not."

"I think I've got to be a lot smarter now," he added.

"Twenty20 cricket you don't play a lot of anyway, it just happened at this time there was a World Cup straight after the South Africa series which I was looking forward to being involved in before I got injured.

"Twenty20, I will quite happily say, is not my favourite format - I would rather play Test cricket.

"And maybe one-day (international) cricket I have to look at as well."

Australia host the 2015 ICC World Cup and although his future in 50-over cricket is unsure, Johnson admits the prospect of playing the tournament in his home country holds an appeal.

Johnson was a member of the Australia squad that won the 2007 event in the West Indies, but did not play a game.

"I'd like to win a World Cup - I've been involved in the West Indies in 2007 which was a well-paid holiday apparently," he joked.

"And while it was tough work, the campaign we went through, it was a good place to be and a great experience.

"So I would love to be a part of Australia's 2015 World Cup and I certainly think we've got the team to win it.

"We've played some really good one-day cricket and given that it's being played at home, it would be a great opportunity.

"But my main goal now is to get to that 2015 Ashes series in England, so I'll be doing everything I can to reach that goal."

Author(s)