NZPA correspondent

Sydney, July 23 NZPA - She's not quite Suzie the waitress, but a woman close to the Australian cricket team has been blamed for derailing their Ashes campaign.

She's all-rounder Mitchell Johnson's mum, Vikki Harber.

And former Australian captain Kim Hughes says she's responsible for her son's bowling meltdowns in the first two tests as England seized a 1-0 series advantage.

It all began on the eve of the first test in Cardiff, when Harber told newspapers and national television about how Johnson's fiancee Jessica Bratich had `stolen' her son.

The pair hadn't spoken since January.

"I get a text on Mother's Day and a text on my birthday," Harber said at the time.

"The last time I actually spoke to him was when the beach cricket was here (and) Dennis Lillee told him he had to ring his mother, so Mitchell rang me that day.

"It has been like this since Jess came on the scene. Up until he met Jessica we were very close...but he hasn't spent a night under my roof since he met Jessica."

Johnson met Bratich, a karate champion, in a Perth bar and shifted from Queensland to Western Australia to be with her.

They soon rivalled Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle as the sport's glamour couple.

She quickly became one of the most-photographed cricketing WAGS, did a bikini shoot for an Aussie lads' mag and was plastered all over news websites after a wardrobe malfunction at the Cricket Australia (CA) awards.

Bratich has been at Johnson's side in England, which also raised Harber's ire. She said CA had turned its back on players' parents in favour of "bitchy" girlfriends who were more interested in self-promotion.

"For the wives and the children I think it is great that (CA) support them and send the over there, but who are these girlfriends? They are just girlfriends," Harber said.

"Mitch met Jess and since then she has flown off to South Africa, to England and the Bahamas. She gets all these trips, she gets flown there, accommodation, food and all of that."

Johnson refused to comment on his mother's outburst, but on the pitch it's been ugly.

The left-arm paceman was one of world cricket's most feared pacemen during the home summer, but in two tests has averaged 41 with the ball and conceded four runs an over.

His return of none for 68 in England's second innings at Lord's sparked heated debate in Australia about his spot for the third test.

Hughes, who famously resigned the Australian captaincy in tears in the 1984-85 season, pointed the finger squarely at Harber.

"I found it incredibly surprising that his mum said what she did. Mitchell Johnson is a pretty sensitive young man and now it looks like he is totally devoid of self-confidence," Hughes told the Daily Telegraph.

"That really added some extra pressure and he is a young man who has got other things on his mind."

Hughes said while Shane Warne could shake off his off-field turmoil and turn in matchwinning performances, it was obvious Johnson "wasn't dealing with things well".

Harber said today it was "ridiculous" to suggest she was responsible for Australia's defeat at Lord's, and added it hurt to see her son's form slump.

"If you could let Mitch know that I love him, that I'm so proud of him," she told the Telegraph.

"To see him struggling over there, it really upsets me."

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