Why Mitchell Johnson Will Be Australia's X-Factor in 2015 Ashes Series

It is often said that time heals all wounds. Alastair Cook and his England team are about to find out if 18 months is long enough to get over the scars left by Mitchell Johnson.

The left-arm paceman has had a love-hate relationship with the Ashes during his career.

In 2009, he was the leader of an attack that failed to hang on to the miniature urn. He took 20 wickets but at an average of 32.55.

The English crowds took great delight in mocking him for his inconsistency, with the Barmy Army even coming up with his very own song (the language used makes it unprintable here). 

The English media, meanwhile, took great delight in detailing the rather public falling out between Johnson's mother and Jessica Bratich, his fiancee at the time (they are now married).

Move on to 2010/11, and he was ineffective at any Australian ground besides Perth, where the pace and bounce of the WACA pitch allowed him to bowl with real menace.

Johnson wasn't involved in the 2013 tour that followed, though he made amends for missing out when England arrived in Australia during the winter.

In the 2013/14 series, he took 37 wickets. This YouTube clip shows them all (warning: not suitable for viewing if you are an Englishman):

Johnson is always fast and furious, but the key to his success in the last Ashes was his accuracy.

There was no respite, no issues with the radar, no chance for the Barmy Army to start singing about him spraying it both sides of the wicket.

Paul Kane/Getty Images

Instead, he dismantled England, finishing up with a ridiculously low bowling average of 13.97.

The handlebar moustache, grown for Movember but kept for the entire series before being shaved off for charity, was amusing at first. But towards the end of the series, it was no longer a laughing matter—just a sign of impending doom for England.

The tourists were blown away to such an extent that there was something inevitable about their batting collapses and a horrible certainty of a 5-0 defeat once the Ashes were won by Australia in the third Test at Perth.

Johnson’s short ball was his main weapon, particularly against a lower order that was left horribly exposed. That was the plan of attack all along, as he told Sam Pilger of the Daily Mail:

"

I could see fear and nerves with their batsman, especially their tail-enders

Our plan was to bowl short, we made that clear to them, and no one likes to face short-pitched bowling 

You could see their batsmen scratching around at the crease, you could see different movements in them and you could just sense something different about their blokes. 

The plan was to go hard at them and it worked. The short stuff made a real impact. 

"

English pitches might not be as receptive as the surfaces in Australia, but that does not mean opposing batsmen will have an easier ride.

This summer, Michael Clarke will have a different bowling attack at his disposal—Ryan Harris' fitness issues are unlikely to see him play a part in the majority of the games, while Peter Siddle has slipped down the pecking order.

Johnson, however, remains. And he is still the X-factor, the one player opposing teams—particularly England—fear. 

Mitchell Starc is the left-arm bowler for the long-term future for Australia, but he’s not quite yet the main Mitchell in the team.

Per Dean Wilson of the Mirror, Johnson admits he didn't know quite what to expect on his first Ashes trip in 2009: "I was taken aback by it all. I did not expect all the attention and the media, then the crowds and everything else on top of that. I took it personally."

Now, though, he knows exactly what to expect. He will play up to the role of pantomime villain and relish the chance to silence the English spectators.

England's batsmen know what to expect, but that does not make it any easier to deal with Johnson, a bowler who shows no signs of slowing down as he enters the closing stages of his international career.

At 33, this could well be the Queenslander's last Ashes tour. He will want to go out with a bang and, more importantly, as a winner.