On Valentine’s Day, England need to find some love for Mitch Johnson

England have had a horrific time in the past year. From January 1, 2014, they have lost 19 of their 30 ODIs. But their effort to reach the final of the Carlton ODI tri-series would have given their fans some hope for the World Cup.

It’s still an under-prepared team going into the World Cup but they are a refreshed side - lead by a new captain in Eoin Morgan - which has finally got its combination right going into the mega event. However, it won’t be easy as they still go into the tournament as underdogs and they will have to up their game with every match.

It will be important to start well and gain early momentum but they face an uphill task up front as they meet arch-rivals Australia in their opening encounter. It’’ be made more difficult because they will face their nemesis - Mitchell Johnson.

The stress on the importance of starting well is because we have seen in the past England’s inability to recuperate quickly from failures. During the last Ashes, it was that one fiery spell from Johnson in the first Test at the Gabba that rattled England and they never really recovered from it.

Johnson brought back the Ashes memories when he destroyed England in the final of the tri-series on the fastest pitch in Australia - the WACA. He broke England’s spine as he scalped three wickets from ten balls which included a snorter to Moeen Ali and a peach to Morgan. England never really recovered from that jolt.

Johnson was playing in his first international match after a month’s break and wasn’t at his best at all against India in the Test series prior to the ODI tournament. It definitely seems as if the 33-year-old left-arm pacer has gone into the head of the Englishmen and the mental scars inflicted during the Ashes still haven’t healed.

It had all started when a renewed Johnson bowled a menacing spell and had the England batsmen hopping around at Old Trafford, Manchester during the pre-Ashes Natwest ODI series in 2013. That ODI series laid the foundation for his Test comeback. He carried the momentum in the home Ashes series and blew away England single-handedly.

Later, in his autobiography, Kevin Pietersen revealed how Johnson sent shudders through the England dressing room, how the England batsmen were scared and how he feared for his life during the Ashes.

“I was sitting there, thinking: I could die here in the f**king Gabbattoir,” Pietersen wrote of the moments after Jonathan Trott’s dismissal. “You very seldom hear people in your own team saying that they are physically scared, but our tail-end batsmen were scared,” he wrote. “I heard (Stuart) Broad, (James) Anderson and (Graeme) Swann say they were scared. When you’ve got that, you know that a bloke in the other team is doing damage.

“Trotty was in shreds. The tail-enders were scared. (Alastair) Cooky was dithering. It was clear that Johnson was already a weapon that we had no answer to.”

It seems as if England still haven’t found any answers to Johnson. However, after the tri-series final loss, Morgan tried to talk down the impact of Johnson and the fact that the fiery spell had reopened the old wounds saying “It could have been anybody bowling; I don’t think he swung it. We put ourselves under pressure. We had a really bad day. That’s the best way to describe it.”

Glenn Maxwell was bemused by Morgan’s statement and said that after suffering at the hands of Johnson continuously of late, England should be worried of Johnson.

“He had 3-11 at one stage and tore through their top order. They can be not worried at all but if they’re getting skittled by him they probably should be,” Maxwell said.

Steven Smith followed up by saying, “I think he’s got a little mental edge over England at the moment.” England might be trying to downplay the Johnson effect but surely, the left-arm pacer has had a psychological impact on England.

England have lost eight of their last ten ODIs against Australia and lost 13 of the last 15 ODIs against Australia in Australia. Josh Hazlewood has already started the mind games saying " I don’t think England quite know how to beat us yet, especially in Australia."

A poor record against Australia combined with a fresh, lively Johnson just makes England’s task more difficult.

Morgan’s men would be desperately hoping to turn tables this time around in front of a capacity 90,000 crowd, but for that, they need to overcome the Johnson fear factor. On Valentine’s Day, England would hope they develop love for Johnson rather than fear!