Cricket: Mitchell Johnson says Hughes' death changed his style

Mitchell Johnson with the late Phil Hughes. Photo / Getty

Retired fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has admitted the death of opening batsman Phillip Hughes led him to question his aggressive approach to the game.

Johnson terrorised English batsmen in the 2013-14 season with a barrage of short-pitched bowling, however the sport itself was rattled after Hughes was fatally struck on the head by a bouncer a season later.

"It still hurts to this day," Johnson has told ABC's 7.30 Report of his teammate's death. "It definitely affected players around the world and I think it changed the game a little bit for a while there.

"I had that Ashes series where I was really aggressive and bowling a lot of short balls and I did hit players.

"And it made me think, was I doing the right thing? You know, was I playing in the spirit of the game?"

Eventually, Johnson concluded the short-pitched delivery still had its place but his figures suffered in the subsequent summer.

He took 43 wickets at 34.3 in 12 Test matches following Hughes' death, compared to 58 against England and in South Africa at an average of 15.5 the previous summer.

"I've always gone out there and bowled fast, bowled my short balls, been aggressive," he said. "I just felt I couldn't go the other way."

Johnson retired from all forms of international cricket on Tuesday.