Johnson eyes role mentoring young players

Mitchell Johnson hopes to pursue a mentoring role in Australian cricket, with the aim of helping young players adjust to the major lifestyle changes that come with reaching the elite level.

Nearly a year on from his international retirement, Johnson is preparing for his first home summer as a spectator, although he will still have a playing role after signing with the Perth Scorchers for the BBL. However, he also believes he has plenty to offer off the field, given his own personal experience of a rapid rise to the big time.

"I came from not much money and to all of a sudden earn big cash was really exciting, and you want to spend it and do this and do that," Johnson told reporters in Perth on Wednesday. "But I had good people around me ... Through cricket I've experienced all the highs and lows. I'm in the process of figuring out where to go with the mentoring side of things and hopefully in the next year or so I can be part of guiding these young guys."

Johnson used the example of controversies in the National Rugby League to highlight the need for off-field assistance for players, who could easily find themselves led towards questionable behaviour without proper guidance.

"I think we're seeing a lot of sportsmen falling into the trap of earning big money and there's gambling and there's drinking and there's lots of things going on," Johnson said. "Definitely there's a real challenge there, looking at it from a cricket point of view, for Cricket Australia and the ACA to bring in some past players and hopefully mentor. I'm definitely looking into that at the moment. It's something that's at the front of my mind.

"It's been like this for a long time, it's not just now. But I guess there's more opportunities now. There's more money involved in sport. I guess the example that I see is growing up in north Queensland and seeing what the [NRL team] Cowboys have gone through now.

"Getting that good coin now and you see in the papers there's a bit of trouble with a few players, they come from nowhere to all of a sudden earning big money and I think just a bit of guidance would be great. I don't think a lot of sportsmen are getting that guidance or mentoring at the moment."