Mitchell Johnson (cricketer)

Mitchell Johnson

Johnson in January 2014
Personal information
Full name	Mitchell Guy Johnson
Born	(1981-11-02) 2 November 1981 (age 35) Townsville, Queensland, Australia
Nickname	Midge, Notch
Height	189 cm (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Batting style	Left-handed
Bowling style	Left-arm fast
Role	Bowler
International information
National side	Australia
Test debut (cap 398)	8 November 2007 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	17 November 2015 v New Zealand
ODI debut (cap 156)	10 December 2005 v New Zealand
Last ODI	29 March 2015 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no.	25
T20I debut (cap 24)	12 September 2007 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I	31 August 2013 v England
T20I shirt no.	25
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2001–2008	Queensland
2008–present	Western Australia (squad no. 25)
2012–2013 2017-	Mumbai Indians
2014–2016	Kings XI Punjab (squad no. 25)
2016–present	Perth Scorchers (squad no. 25)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 73 153 117 184 Runs scored 2,065 951 3,180 1,115 Batting average 22.20 16.11 22.87 16.15 100s/50s 1/11 0/2 2/15 0/2 Top score 123* 73* 123* 73* Balls bowled 16,001 7,489 23,765 9,227 Wickets 313 239 465 284 Bowling average 28.40 25.26 28.71 26.01 5 wickets in innings 12 3 17 4 10 wickets in match 3 n/a 4 n/a Best bowling 8/61 6/31 8/61 6/31 Catches/stumpings 27/– 35/– 39/– 39/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 17 November 2015

Mitchell Guy Johnson (born 2 November 1981) is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler and left-handed batsman. He made his Test debut for Australia in November 2007 and was awarded the International Cricket Council's "Cricketer of the Year" award 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 against England's batting. He then went on to cement his place in the Australian side in the following Test series Against South Africa and was rewarded with his second "Cricketer of the Year" and first "Test Player of the year" award in 2014. He played a key role in the semi-final and final matches of ICC World Cup 2015 which led to 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. Johnson was the last active Australian player with a Test cap number in the 300s.

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 team mate Rod Marsh and arranged for Johnson to join the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

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. In September 2005, he was in the Australia A cricket team that toured Pakistan. He generally bowls the sling action and has the capability to bowl in excess of 150kph, his fastest being 156.7kph in Melbourne in the 2013-14 Ashes series.