Mitchell Johnson likely to play for Perth Scorchers in the BBL

Mitchell Johnson, the former Australian speedster, has expressed his desire to be part of the upcoming Big Bash League, but the Queensland-born bowler is not sure in what capacity; he is reportedly contemplating between whether to participate as a player or take up a coaching role. The report comes as a contradiction to speculations of Johnson unlikely to appear in the Big Bash League season a few days earlier.


The left-arm fast bowler, who retired from international cricket in November 2015, was part of the Kings XI Punjab squad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 season, where he had a mediocre outing - appearing in only three games out of the 14.
 
"I'm probably leaning towards playing at this point in time but I've got to go and make a decision," Johnson was quoted as saying by Fox Sports News on Wednesday (July 20). "It's something that I'm thinking about at the moment, where I want to go with my cricket, whether I want to play the T20 circuit or not. (The Big Bash is) a pretty awesome tournament, a lot of the boys talk about how much fun they have and the ratings for it have been huge," he added.
 
Justin Langer, the Perth Scorchers coach, is playing a key role in helping Johnson make a decision. He has assisted Johnson to regain the fire in the belly once again. "The way Justin has put it to me in the conversations we've had is he wants me to go out there and have some fun.

"So that takes a lot of pressure off me. I've been so used to being the No.1 strike bowler for so many years, it definitely puts pressure on you to perform.

"He wants me to go and be with the boys, enjoy the atmosphere of the dressing room, train with the boys and help out. That's the big thing I'm looking forward to, being involved with the young guys coming through."

If Johnson decides to sign on the dotted line for Perth Scorchers, then it will be a big loss for Brisbane Heat, who had the Western Australian in their squad for the last three seasons, but didn't get an opportunity to play him.

The advantage of signing for the Perth-based franchise is, Johnson will get to work with two young left-arm fast bowlers - Joel Paris and Jason Behrendorff. "I see myself doing more of the mentoring role," he said.
"Maybe coaching a bit more like what Dennis Lillee did, in that you come in for a week here or there, come into certain teams or work with individual players.

"I feel that's probably more suited to me than a big team-based (role)," he concluded.