Sydney: Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson has promised to maintain his newfound aggression and will be aiming for the badge just above the ribcage England batsman Kevin Pietersen.
Johnson's aggression grew with his career-defining performances against South Africa last summer, when he twice broke the hand of Proteas captain Graeme Smith and also wounded Jacques Kallis.
"You aim to intimidate the guy at the other end, and that was definitely my plan in South Africa. I really wanted to get up their batsmen and let them know we were here and seriously trying to win the match and the series."
"That's something I'm definitely going to take into my game more often. I'm not verbal or in your face in the way that some guys are, I just try to let my bowling do the talking, with maybe a few short ones. You want to stamp your authority as quickly as you can," Johnson said.
The contest between Johnson and Pietersen will be one of the most eagerly anticipated of the summer, even though the South African-born Englishman has had mixed results since he was sacked as captain at the beginning of the year. The Australians still regard him as England's most dangerous player, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
"Is he vulnerable? I think there's definitely going to be a lot of pressure on him, so we're looking to get him as cheaply as we can. It's an Ashes series, so I don't think we need to say anything about Pietersen. The less we give him the better," Johnson said.
Johnson is perfectly prepared to revert to his hit the deck hard and aim for the ribs strategy if he is not swinging the ball dangerously as he now knows he can.
"I've been working on swinging the ball, getting that swing back into the right-handers, but if the swing's not there, I generally try to hit the deck hard," he said.
