The Barmy Army bade a fond farewell to its favourite sparring partner after Mitchell Johnson's retirement from international cricket.
Johnson was a favourite target for England's hardcore fans, initially brow-beaten by their mockery only to pay it back in spades during a man-of-the-series showing in the Australian whitewash of 2013/14.
But despite his collection of 313 Test wickets, few will be able to forget the Barmy Army's catchy chant that followed Johnson around from the moment it was unveiled in Perth on Boxing Day 2013.
"He bowls to the left/he bowls to the right/that Mitchell Johnson/his bowling is s****," went the song.
That may go down in Ashes folklore but Barmy Army co-founder Paul Burnham reveals it was initially intended as a more family-friendly refrain.
"One of our guys Beefy, wrote it on the plane over and he arrived on Boxing Day morning with the song," Burnham told Press Association Sport.
"It didn't have the swear word in initially. We pride ourselves on not swearing so it was supposed to be 'his bowling's not right'.
"But the other word fit better and that was that. Nobody complained about the odd swear word in Australia so it was a case of 'when in Rome'. A lot of the Australian media found it very funny."
Johnson too, learned to appreciate the attention.
As the years went on he developed a light-hearted rapport with his one-time tormentors, who warmed to him in turn.
Barmy Army tour manager Andy Thompson explained: "Mitchell kind of turned himself from a hate figure into a loved figure.
"One or two of our people actually met him and discovered he was quite a nice bloke. Just like Jimmy Anderson, he gets that white line fever.
"We voted him our overseas player of the year a couple of years ago and he was lovely, he did a video for us to accept.
"What we liked is that he could never resist having a bite. He'd always look over and have a good go back, but it was always in good heart."
Burnham added: "There was a time we got on top of him, but he went on to be fantastic against England. We all like a good comeback, even against your own team. He was a proper Test match cricketer."
Source: PA
