Mitchell Johnson predicts Alastair Cook will retire at the end of the Ashes

The former Australian cricketer Mitchell Johnson reckons Alastair Cook will be thinking about his retirement after the ongoing Ashes series. England is already lagging in the five-match series by 0-2 after the first couple of matches. Many cricket experts believe that it will be a repeat of 2013 Ashes when Johnson himself had wreaked havoc with the barrage of bouncers with fiery pace. However, even the left-arm bowler feels that Australia will whitewash England once again much like they did four years ago.

Alastair Cook the opening batsman for England has struggled so far in the four innings so far down under and has mustered only 62 runs at a mediocre average of 15.50. He has not been scoring big hundreds nowadays like he used to score a few years ago when he was the leader of the pack. His early fall of a wicket in the series has often put pressure on a somewhat inexperienced middle order in the absence of Ben Stokes who has been suspended.

Pressure on Root

Mitchell Johnson, while speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, felt that the visiting England side is struggling mentally on the tour. “England will struggle mentally. You’ve got guys like Alastair Cook struggling. He can’t find form. And I’d say he’s thinking about retirement. He has played 150 Test matches; it’s got to take it out of you,” he said. Johnson also opined that the skipper Joe Root would also be under a lot of pressure going into the third Test in Perth which might eventually decide the series.

“Joe Root is the skipper, and there’s a lot of pressure on him with what’s happening outside the game but also winning the toss and what he did last game was debatable and that’s got to mentally take its toll on him as well. He’ll be questioning and doubting himself,” he added. The third Test match is set to commence on December 14 at WACA in Perth.