Mitchell Johnson would probably be serving his country on the field of battle rather than the cricket pitch if it wasn't for his chance meeting with Dennis Lillee.

With many of his childhood friends serving in Iraq, Johnson - the paceman whose all-round talents could decide the Ashes - believes he would have followed suit had Lillee not famously discovered him at a fast-bowling clinic in Queensland.

"If I hadn't gone to that camp I probably would have been in the army," says Johnson, who is now with the Western Warriors.

"I've had friends that have gone over to Iraq and all that, have been shot at, a friend that's a tank driver that's been over as well, so they've been in the action. It's pretty scary."

Preparing to spearhead Australia's pace attack against England, Johnson admits his friends' experiences put what he does for a living into perspective.

"I'm quite proud of where I am," he says.

"There was a little bit of luck involved in it but I wouldn't give it up for the world.

"I feel grateful to those guys for looking after us, they do an excellent job."

Johnson's record speaks for itself in making him a key figure of the Ashes campaign.

The burly paceman has taken 94 wickets from 21 Tests at an average of 28.01.

Against South Africa in Perth, he claimed 8-61 in one innings and, on Australia's victorious return leg in February and March, he took 16 wickets from three Tests at 25.00.

With the bat he has also been a revelation with his power and pure hitting down the order - he averaged 85.00 in South Africa, where he had unbeaten scores of 96 and 123.

The left-armer's natural ability to swing the ball will come in handy in the English conditions and, with every chance he could bowl the first ball of the first Test in Cardiff on July 8, he is keen to set the tone for the Ashes series.

"You've got to be aggressive as a fast bowler, especially opening the bowling for your country," he says.

"It's always a good mood to set when you're bowling that first ball and you're being aggressive, or the first over of a Test match in an Ashes series, or whatever it is. You want to stamp your authority as quickly as you can."

But the controlled 27-year-old from Townsville admits it took time for his aggression to re-emerge after being called up to the Australian team.

"Playing state cricket I was probably fairly aggressive with my bowling," he says.

"Starting to play for Australia, I probably lost that a little bit.

"It was a different situation, different guys around the team, but now I'm feeling a lot more comfortable and more confident with how I play the game. It's definitely come out in the last few months."

Johnson has also benefited from working with bowling coach Troy Cooley, who was part of the England set-up when they won the Ashes in 2005.

"I've known Troy since I was 17," Johnson says.

"He'll let you do what you need to do in a training session, you can go up and talk to him, he knows the players individually and personally and that helps being able to talk to him about your bowling.

"He'll let you figure it out and give you that space, and if you don't figure it out, he'll tell you."

With Cooley and Lillee, Johnson has been working on varying his arm height depending on whether he is looking for pure pace or swing.

"I've been working on swinging the ball, getting that swing back into the right-handers, but if the swing's not there, I generally try to hit the deck hard," he said.

"Being a left-hander, over the last few months I've noticed that ball into the ribs, they don't really like it, so we always talk about getting a nice one right at the top of the badge.

"I don't know if I want to give out too much information, but it's something I have been working on, and it has taken a bit of time to work on. It's not something that just happens in games.

"It depends on what the ball is doing. If it's swinging or if it reverses, my arm is taller."

It's not just with the ball that Johnson looms as a match winner.

Despite wonderful batting record in Test cricket Johnson is not in any hurry to move up the batting order.

"I'm enjoying No.8 at the moment," he said.

"We've got a pretty good batting line up so if there's any opportunity to bat higher I'll definitely put my hand up, but for the time being I think I'd probably stay at eight."

LONDON AAP