Ashes 2015: Mitchell Johnson goads England fans as Edgbaston crowd shows little mercy for Australia

Australian bowler wasn't afraid to give a bit back

Mitchell Johnson pictured on the third day (GETTY IMAGES)

England may have thoroughly thrashed Australia to take a 2-1 lead in this topsy-turvy Ashes series, willed on by a noisy partisan crowd, but Mitchell Johnson was one player unafraid to give a little back to the home support.

The left-armer bowled the spell of the match on Day Two, removing both Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes in the space of three balls with a pair of snarling short-pitched deliveries.

However things did not go as well for him on Day Three, and the noisy home crowd were not afraid to let Johnson know it.

Serenading him with their traditional song casting aspersions on the accuracy of his bowling, as well as chants of “Mitchell, Mitchell”, the atmosphere reached a peak in what turned out to be the bowler's last over of the day.

With the noise crescendoing as Johnson ran in to bowl, the fast bowler showed he still had a sense of humour, failing to bowl the ball at the end of his run up, seemingly just in order to wind up the crowd.

However it seems the vocal crowd may have got to him in the end, because the follow up delivery was fairly bizarre, a foot wide of off stump and bowled from about a foot behind the umpire and the popping crease.

It made for a lively end to the match as England wrapped up an eight-wicket win just before the Tea interval.