Australian pace spearhead Mitchell Johnson has said that coach Darren Lehmann has cracked his 'enigma code' by building a bridge between the divide between him being an Ashes outcast and the trump card for the 2013 season.
Lehmann's 'pearls of wisdom' have resonated with Johnson since the September one-day series in England, especially after the bowler's years of Ashes ridicule and career extremes, although the coach's messages are simple and too logical for any manual.
According to Telegraph.com.au, Johnson credited the coach with bringing back the fun in the game for Australia, saying that by telling him to bowl in his natural style, enjoy his work and not over-complicate things, Lehmann helped him turn into a terror for England from an Ashes outcast.
Stating that Lehmann communicates well and gets the best out of the players, Johnson, whose new mantra has seen him rifle through 23 English wickets at 15, further said that Lehmann commands respect in the dressing room gained through 27 Tests, World Cup glory in 1999 and 2003 and being Sheffield Shield's greatest run-scorer.
The report mentioned that preoccupation about point of release and balance that trigger Johnson's lethal in-swinger has given way to how the left-armer would emulate the greats from idol Dennis Lillee to Merv Hughes and let go of his loose spells and self doubt.
