Australian fast-bowler continues to taunt his opponents after latest victory.
Man-of-the-series Mitchell Johnson says he and Kevin Pietersen are “passionate” competitors and he enjoyed his confrontation with the England batsman during the fourth Ashes Test.
Johnson picked up his third man-of-the-match award in Australia’s eight-wicket victory Sunday.
It leaves the beleaguered tourists trailing 4-0 heading into this week’s final Sydney Test in a lopsided Ashes series.
Johnson, who has been the major difference between the two sides with his aggressive short-pitched bowling claiming 31 wickets in the series at 14.32, confronted Pietersen during Saturday’s third day.
The batsman had more than once pulled away from the crease, indicating he was not ready to play because of movement in front of the sightscreen, as Johnson was close to finishing his run-up.
“I don’t think I took it too far. I was getting annoyed at what he was doing. He kept pulling away,” Johnson told reporters.
“I did find out later that there was a little kid crawling across the sightscreen.
“But you look at the size of the sightscreen, they’re pretty big here.
“If you’re not watching the game and you’re too busy watching the crowd, then I think it was warranted.
“I enjoy those little confrontations and there was no contact this time, which was good. We’re both passionate people and we want to win.”
Johnson said while he felt some England players were not scared of his hostile bowling there were others who were uneasy.
“I don’t know if it’s a scared thing, but maybe a bit uneasy at times on certain wickets throughout this series, definitely,” he said.
“Being a tailender myself, you never like going in there and facing short balls straight up. It can be intimidating.”
Johnson has become the first Australian bowler to take 30 wickets or more in a series in Australia since current Test bowling coach Craig McDermott in 1994/95.
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