Johnson looking for Ashes spot

Mitchell Johnson had a great DLF cup tournament in Malaysia © Getty Images

Queensland pace bowler Mitchell Johnson is hoping to use the ICC Champions Trophy as a springboard into Australia’s Ashes squad.

The 24-year-old has forced himself into contention to feature against England with a string of impressive performances over the last year, culminating in figures of 4-11 against India in the DLF Cup in Malaysia last month.

As agreed before that tournament, the left-armer returned to Australia following that game although he had already been named in their 14-man Champions Trophy squad.

Back in Brisbane, Johnson has continued to work with Australian bowling coach Troy Cooley, as well as gaining some more match practice with his club side Norths, and he insists he is ready for the upcoming tournament in India.

“I’m feeling pretty fresh,” he said.

“I’ve had club cricket over the past two weekends and probably haven’t trained as hard. I just want to be fresh for the start of the ICC Champions Trophy because it’s going to be a tough month.

“I’m focused on that at the moment. I just want to go over there and hopefully get the opportunity to play again and do my best.

“I want to go out there and do my best any time I play, either for my state, for my club or my country. The Ashes are coming up and that’s at the back of my mind but I’ve just got to focus on this next tour and see what happens from there.”

Johnson, who has played in seven one-day internationals but is yet to make his Test debut, has shown a marked improvement over the last few months and he puts that down to Cooley’s coaching.

Troy Cooley helped England's bowlers to an Ashes victory last summer © Getty Images

Cooley worked with the Australian Cricket Academy from 2000 to 2003 before being lured to England as their national team bowling coach, but returned to his native Australia to take up a similar role last December.

Cooley was credited as a key factor in England’s Ashes victory last year after helping their bowling attack hit peak form during the Ashes and, ironically, he could now have the same effect for Australia.

“I’ve been working a lot with Troy Cooley at the moment,” admits Johnson.

“I’ve worked with Troy before at the Cricket Academy and it’s great having him at Queensland because we’ve sort of struggled with a fast-bowling coach over the past couple of seasons.

“Having him there has just been great for me, I’ve been able to work with him, and some of the younger guys have done the same as well.”

Johnson is the man of the moment in Australia after taking the prized scalps of Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in Malaysia.

But he insists playing alongside Glenn McGrath on his return to international cricket was a greater thrill.

“It was very exciting for me,” Johnson added. “But I wasn’t really thinking about who was at the other end.

“Tendulkar, Dravid - they were great wickets to get - but I was actually more excited about bowling with Glenn McGrath, to be honest.”