Hughes had Johnson questioning his approach

Retired fast bowler Mitchell Johnson says the passing of Phillip Hughes led him to question his aggressive approach to the game.

Johnson terrorised English batsmen in the 2013-14 Ashes campaign with a barrage of short-pitched bowling, a year before the entire sport was rattled after Hughes was fatally struck by a bouncer during a Sheffield Shield match late last year.

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"It still hurts to this day," Johnson told the ABC's 7.30 of Hughes's passing.

"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 in the game.

The left-armer was never at his destructive best again following that watershed 2013-14 season, in which he took 58 wickets in eight Tests against England and South Africa at an average of 15.50.

He took 43 wickets at 34.30 in the 12 matches since Hughes passed away 12 months ago.

"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."