Keep it simple, McGrath's advice to inconsistent Johnson

Pace great Glenn McGrath blamed Mitchell Johnson's average Ashes show on kinks in his mind and asked the left-arm pacer to stay relaxed and keep it simple to be back among the wickets again.

McGrath said the same approach worked for him and there was not reason why it should not work with Johnson, who could not maintain the same standard in Ashes that he had shown against South Africa.

"He needs to keep it simple. That is the key. He just has to clear his head and not complicate things," McGrath was quoted as saying by The Daily Telegraph.

"Less things can go wrong when you keep it simple. I just used to switch a voice off in my head, pick out a song to sing at the top of my mark and trust myself that my body knew how to bowl.

"It didn't always work. But if you win the battle with yourself you are 75 per cent towards being successful," he explained.

"I always used to find that the days in which you worried about your action you never bowled well. But days when you weren't worried you bowled well.

"That's all Mitch needs to do. Just relax. Even when he isn't bowling well he still takes wickets. It is just a confidence thing. He needs to just run in and bowl," McGrath added.

Talking about other pacers in the side that lost the Ashes to England, McGrath said Brett Lee stood some chance to return to the Test side but Australia may have found its long-term prospects in Johnson, Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle.

"I have been very impressed with the three quicks. They have worked very well together. I think those guys are good enough to be there. They have done it in the past in South Africa and will continue to do so.

"It is all about experience. They beat South Africa in South Africa. Those three guys will grow as time goes on. They were the leading wicket-takers in the Ashes from both teams. You can't really sledge them too much because I think they have done pretty well," McGrath said.