When Mitchell Johnson almost punched Kevin Pietersen...

Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson was one fiery bowler during his heyday and has been involved in many tussles on the pitch; his clashes with England batsman Kevin Pietersen headlined many Ashes battles

Kevin Pietersen (left) and Mitchell Johnson during the Melbourne Test in 2013. Pic/Getty Images

Australian pacer Mitchell Johnson was one fiery bowler during his heyday and has been involved in many tussles on the pitch. His clashes with England batsman Kevin Pietersen headlined many Ashes battles. In an extract from his autobiography Resilient, Johnson reveals how he came very close to punching Pietersen during the 2009 Ashes tour to England.

He said only fellow pacer Stuart Clark came between him hitting Pieterson during a warm-up before a Test match. "Pietersen knows how to get under people's skin and when we were bowling in the morning he played a few pull shots in our direction," Johnson wrote in his book.

"It wasn't exactly harmless because we could easily have stood on a ball in our run-ups. I threw a ball back to where he was and I suggested he stop it. Of course, he didn't. When he hit another one towards me I kicked it as far as I could in the other direction. Words were exchanged and KP crossed the line in what he said. He got really personal and I'm not going to dignify his comments by repeating them," he added.

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