Former England captain Michael Vaughan has said he believes that Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson's tendency to 'blow hot and cold' is a thing of the past as the left-armer produced the most 'hostile' pace performance at the Ashes opener that he has seen in nearly four years.
In previous campaigns against England, Johnson has started slowly, lost self-belief, pulled out a top-drawer Test mid-series then fallen away with the urn on the line.
However, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that Vaughan said Johnson's effort in the first Test was more intimidating than his match-winning display in Perth in the last Ashes on Australian soil and the most aggressive he had seen from any paceman since South African Dale Steyn ran riot against England in Johannesburg in January 2010.
Vaughan is expecting to see more of the explosive game-breaker this summer and not the inconsistent and fragile version from past Ashes series, saying that this time will be different as Johnson has started well into the game.
Stating that Johnson has got all the attributes and levels that a captain wants from his players to have a good series, Vaughan also said that even though the pacer has got to produce consistent performances, which is lacking in his career, he has got better and is mature and understands his game.
However, Vaughan backed England to make it more difficult for Australia at the second Test in Adelaide, saying that the challenge facing Johnson in the second Test will be to add swing to his artillery as the Adelaide Oval will not offer the steep bounce or pace he found at the Gabba.