Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Guy Johnson (born 2 November 1981) is a former Australian cricketer, who played all forms of the game for his national side.

He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman.

Johnson subsequently played for the Australian Under-19 side that toured England in 1999, however recurrent back injuries hampered his prospects.

He recovered to start his first-class career two years later, when he was selected to play state cricket for his native Queensland.

Playing for Queensland against New Zealand, Johnson hit a six off the first ball he faced in first-class cricket.

He represented Australia in international cricket from 2005 to 2015.

Johnson is considered to be one of the greatest fast bowlers of his era and is referred as the most lethal bowler of all time.

In September 2005, he was in the Australia A cricket team that toured Pakistan.

In December 2005, Johnson was selected for the Australian One Day International team, making his debut against New Zealand in Christchurch, with chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns justifying his selection on the grounds of grooming players for the future.

Johnson gave the first signs of his potential at international level against the strong Indian batting line-up in a One Day International in Malaysia, Johnson's 7th.

He took 4/11 off just 4 overs, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh.

Johnson then played in the Australian 2006 ICC Champions Trophy team and in the group A match against England where he took 3/40, including the wicket of Kevin Pietersen.

Johnson was chosen to be in the squad for the first Ashes Test beginning on 23 November 2006, but was 12th man in all of the games.

With his time representing Australia, Johnson won multiple ICC titles with the team: the 2007 Cricket World Cup, the 2015 Cricket World Cup, the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, and the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

On 26 January 2007, Johnson took 4 wickets in 8 balls during the seventh match of the CB Series against England, for which he earned man of the match honours.

In October 2007, Johnson helped Australia seal the ODI series in India.

He finished as the top wicket-taker with 14 wickets, which showed his abilities, even on the slow pitches of the sub-continent.

In the fifth ODI in Vadodara he took 5/26, his first international five-wicket haul.

On 10 November 2007, while making his Australian Test match debut against Sri Lanka at his home ground, the Gabba, Johnson took his first wicket – that of Thilan Samaraweera, caught by Adam Gilchrist.

Johnson went on to take 4/96 in the match.

Johnson switched from the Queensland Bulls to the Western Warriors on 25 July 2008.

On 19 January 2008, Johnson scored his first ever Test half-century, against India in Perth, having been both dropped and bowled off a no-ball, although Australia ended up losing the match.

On the second day of the first Test against South Africa in Perth on 18 December 2008, Johnson took seven wickets for just 12 runs, including five wickets for two runs near the close, to reduce the tourists from 3/234 to 8/241.

He ended with 8/61 the next day.

Despite this performance, Australia went on to lose the Test.

Batting with Michael Clarke, he made 64 later in the series.

Johnson was awarded the International Cricket Council's Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy (ICC Cricketer of the Year) in 2009.

After suffering a drop in form that led to his removal from the national side in early 2013, he was particularly successful in his 'comeback' to the Australian Test squad during the 2013–14 Ashes series in Australia, during which he dominated England's batting.

He cemented his place in the Australian side in the following Test series against South Africa and was rewarded with his second Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy and first ICC Test Player of the Year award in 2014.

He played a key role in the semi-final and final matches of the 2015 World Cup, which ultimately culminated in Australia winning the World Cup for the fifth time.

Johnson retired from all forms of international cricket in November 2015, having represented Australia in a total of 256 matches.

He was the last active Australian player with a Test cap number in the 300s.

In terms of time span, Johnson is also the quickest bowler to reach 150 Test wickets, doing so in 2 years and 139 days.

In August 2018, Johnson announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.

Johnson was born and raised in Townsville, Queensland.

His first sporting love was tennis with his idol being Pete Sampras.

At 14 he was offered the opportunity to move to Brisbane to further his tennis career but turned it down.

It wasn't until the age of 17 that Johnson gave up on his childhood dream of being a professional tennis player and began focusing on cricket.

When Johnson attended a fast bowling clinic in Brisbane at age 17, former Test fast bowler Dennis Lillee identified him as a "once-in-nine-lives prospect".

Lillee contacted former teammate Rod Marsh and arranged for Johnson to join the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.