Johnson 'excited' by WACA pace

What a difference a week makes. Last Monday, Mitchell Johnson was one of the final men dismissed in Australia's defeat in Abu Dhabi, which gave Pakistan a 2-0 Test series win. Johnson was Australia's best bowler on the tour but in hot conditions on slow surfaces, every wicket was hard fought.

Now, he is back at the WACA, the site of several Johnson demolitions over the years. In six Tests at the venue he has taken 42 wickets at 20.19, and frightened countless batsmen along the way. There is no Test match at the WACA this summer, so for the time being Johnson will have to settle for a pair of ODIs there against South Africa on Friday and Sunday.

"Yesterday was a bit of an eye-opener again, just seeing how much bounce and pace there is," Johnson said at training on Wednesday. "I came down and watched the Shield match the other day and saw the ball flying around. I was quite excited. I'm looking forward to getting out there and playing some cricket in Australia."

If the speed in the practice pitches was an eye-opener for Johnson, imagine what it will be for South Africa's batsmen. Or, for that matter, for Johnson's team-mates, who have had to face him over the past two days in the nets on pitches that Johnson said were "almost dangerous".

"I bowled Steve Smith a short ball and I think I got him on the finger, but he's okay," he said. "If you can challenge the batsmen there, they're going to get a good contest and hopefully out in the middle it makes it a little bit easier. I always go hard in the nets and try and make it as realistic as possible without trying to kill the batsman.

"I might not have said sorry, but I made sure he was okay. I did get Davey Warner here a couple of years ago and felt pretty bad about it. You're not intending to hurt the batters. When I do bowl my short ball I'm trying to practice like they are, but I'm not trying to knock their heads off. I'm trying to just get myself right."

Not that Johnson is the only bowler capable of gaining scary pace and bounce out of the WACA surface. Morne Morkel will challenge the Australians with his steepling bounce, Vernon Philander can get the ball to zip through, and Dale Steyn - the No.1 Test bowler in the world and No.3 in ODIs - will ask the same kinds of questions that Johnson has done in the nets.

"Both of us can bowl in the high 140s and it's very exciting," Johnson said of Steyn. "He's a world-class bowler and he's been the No.1 bowler in the world for a long time. He's a guy that should do really well in these conditions. They're very similar to back home for him. I'm looking forward to the contest and I'm sure he's looking forward to getting out there on these wickets."

Steyn might have a special bouncer or two in store for Australia's captain Michael Clarke, after an on-field sledge from Clarke to Steyn during the final day of the Cape Town Test in March. When the two teams were in Zimbabwe for the tri-series later in the year, Steyn said he had taken Clarke's comment personally and was yet to forgive him.

"There's always tension between the two sides," Johnson said. "In the end we're going to play them on skill and that's what we're about. We want to beat them with bat and ball, and whatever else happens, happens out in the middle. It's probably going to be fiery again. But we want to go out there and play the best cricket we can.

"There's a lot of competition going on. Both teams don't like to lose. I think that's where we see the fire in the game. They've got some of the best players in the world on their team. We've got a couple ourselves who are very competitive natured. You see that fire in the belly and see that hard contest."