Mitchell Johnson

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

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 was not 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. Johnson subsequently played for the Australian Under-19 team 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. In September 2005, he was in the Australia A cricket team that toured Pakistan. Johnson switched from the Queensland Bulls to the Western Warriors on 25 July 2008.

In Their Own Story

The turning point of Johnson's career arrived after a severe drop in form led to his removal from the national team in early 2013. He returned with vengeance during the 2013–14 Ashes series in Australia, where he completely dominated England's batting lineup. This resurgence earned him the International Cricket Council's Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the second time and his first ICC Test Player of the Year award in 2014. His form carried into the 2015 World Cup, where he played a key role in both the semi-final and final matches, helping Australia secure their fifth World Cup title. In the final stages of his career, he became the last active Australian player with a Test cap number in the 300s. Despite his dominance, his time on the international stage ended in November 2015, though he formally announced his retirement from all cricket three years later in August 2018.

Reader's Guide

In December 2005, Johnson was selected for the Australian One Day International team, making his debut against New Zealand in Christchurch. He 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. 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. 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. 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. The 2009 tour to South Africa saw an important development in Johnson's armoury – the ability to consistently swing the ball into the right-hander. During the first Test, on 27 February 2009, Johnson scored 96 not out, to help Australia post 466 all out. This included one over in which he scored 26 runs off the bowling of Paul Harris, hitting two fours and three sixes, the last of which carried out of the stadium and broke the record for the most runs in an over for Australia in a Test match. He als

Did You Know?

• Johnson hit a six off the first ball he faced in first-class cricket, playing for Queensland against New Zealand.
• He scored 26 runs off one over from Paul Harris during the first Test against South Africa in Perth in 2009, breaking the record for most runs in an over for Australia in a Test match.
• Johnson is the quickest bowler to reach 150 Test wickets, doing so in 2 years and 139 days.
• He was the last active Australian player with a Test cap number in the 300s.