Hughes death still hurts, says Johnson

The recently retired left-arm pacer says that aggression is the forte of fast-bowlers

Australia’s fourth highest all-time wicket taker in Tests, Mitchel Johnson said the death of his team mate Philip Hughes made him rethink about his approach toward the game.

"I had that Ashes series where I was really aggressive and bowling a lot of short balls and I did hit players," Johnson revealed his thoughts post Hughes death.



"And it (Hughes death) made me think, was I doing the right thing? You know, was I playing in the spirit of the game?

PHOTO: AFP

The left-handed opening batsman died after being hit by a Sean Abbot bouncer in a Sheffield Shield match at Sydney Cricket Ground earlier this year, and the retired fiery fast-bowler expressed the pain that he and other team mates still share after the loss of New South Wales batsman.

"It still hurts to this day," said Johnson.

"It definitely affected players around the world and I think it changed the game a little bit for a while there.”



However, the man of the series of 2014 Ashes accepted that being aggressive is the forte of any great fast-bowler.

"I've always gone out there and bowled fast, bowled my short balls, been aggressive," he said.

"I just felt I couldn't go the other way."

Johnson retired from all forms of international cricket on Tuesday

The article originally appeared on radioaustralia.net