The Story of a Van Delivery Driver who turned into a World Class Cricketer

Mitchell Guy Johnson, now the world’s best fast bowler and a nightmare for all batsmen has already seen many upheavals in his nine years of international cricket. As he recently received the award for best bowling from ESPN Cricinfo, we take a time travel to 90′s when Mitchell Johnson was a kid who was mentally not as strong as he is now.

Budding as a Cricketer

Mitchell Johnson was a good tennis player during his childhood and it was learnt that serving has contributed to the back problems that haunted him throughout his cricketing career. Not many people may know but the start of his career was not that smooth after Dennis Lillee identified him in a fast-bowling clinic in Brisbane at the age of 17 and termed him as a ‘once-in-nine-lives prospect’.

Mitchell Johnson played for the Australian Under-19 Team that toured England in 1999, but recurrent back injuries hampered his prospects. Soon after making his first-class debut in 2001/02 for his native Queensland, he was dropped from the list of contracted players in 2002-03 due to repeated niggling back injuries and a run of poor form. Having lost his contract, he started working as a plumbing van delivery driver under his boss Brett Mortimer, also his Northern Suburbs cricket coach. Brett not only persuaded him from returning to his hometown Townsville but also encouraged him to play club cricket in Brisbane as a pure batsman where he scored a couple of centuries to get his confidence back.

Mitchell Johnson’s rebirth into Cricket

After a couple of good domestic seasons, he was picked for the Australia ‘A’ tour to Pakistan in September 2005 and went on to make his One day International debut three months later against New Zealand. His consistently good performances at ODI level earned him a Test call-up and he subsequently made his debut on 8th November 2007 against Sri Lanka at his home ground in Brisbane.

The Initial years of his Test career were quite good but not spectacular. Between November 2007 and the end of 2009, he played 30 Test matches and claimed 137 victims including the highly rewarding tour of South Africa in early 2009 where he won the Man of the series award for claiming 16 wickets in three games as Australia won 2-1. He was intimidating, fast, furious and aggressive and that caught the imagination of everyone.

During the 2010-11 Ashes series in Australia, though he claimed 15 wickets in four Tests (including nine in the third Test), he was very wayward during fourth & fifth Tests. From the start of 2010 until August 2013, Johnson went through a lean spell where he played only 21 Tests and took 68 wickets. His confidence was shattered after a spate of poor form, serious injuries (including a toe fracture that kept him out for seven months) and heavy criticism from the media.

Life Lessons

When his confidence was shattered, Johnson met Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith, a War Hero, who taught him life lessons that helped him switch from being a vulnerable player to a fearsome strike bowler. Roberts-Smith briefed the bowler on how to prioritize the important things in life, how to shut off the negativity from his mind. Roberts-Smith even took the struggling batsman to his training barracks, where he was given a hands-on experience of life in the army.

Then, Mitchell Johnson turned on to MRF Pace Academy and working with Lillee, gave him a lot of confidence. In fact the time when he was away from cricket had actually helped him the most. Dennis Lillee played the main part in the Johnson regeneration. First the approach, then the position of bowling arm at release, then the use of the right arm in the delivery and follow-through. These technical things along with some tactical moves like bowling at 150kph and hitting the deck with good lengths and lines consistently helped Mitch. Lillee also gave some useful tips like where should the bouncer be aimed and what is its purpose and how to control the new ball and profit from the old one. These are among the things Lillee and Johnson have considered and improved upon.

You hit him Once, he hits you back!

Years have run past and now he has tormented the English batsmen and created a fear psyche in the minds of their top order batsmen. It is a long time since one fast bowler caused such destruction. Skill and intimidation were blend perfectly to ruin careers just like the West Indies did it as a group. Johnson carried the legacy of the ‘Demon’ Spofforth, the dreaded Aussie First Test bowler in the inaugural test in 1876-77.

The resurgent Mitchell Johnson found his rhythm in the return Ashes played in Australia and from there he never looked back. The moral boosting 37 wickets in the 5-0 whitewash against England grabbing the Man of the series Award in the Ashes series made him a hero. Mitchell Johnson buried a demoralized England on his own home turf, as Cricinfo quoted ‘pressing down his thumb’ on flattened batsmen and scaring the life out of tail enders. Starting from Brisbane where he broke the backbone of the English top order batsmen and claimed 9 wickets with his fiery spell and continued his lethal , hostile fast bowling throughout the series and helped the Aussies regain the Ashes ‘Urn’.

Read: Looking back at Mitchell Johnson’s Six wicket spell during Ashes

The Top 2 test teams trying to establish the numero uno position met in South Africa. He carried on the hostile spells of his pace bowling in the South African tour in the recently concluded 3 match series.

“He hit them in the gloves, he hit them in the arms and he hit them in the head and tested their rib cage but mostly Mitchell Johnson hit South Africa in the wicket column.” quoted the guardian

 A searing, spiteful ball that hemmed back one of the great back-foot technicians in cricket and then climbed through every conceivable method of defence to crash into his face in the second innings of the match.

Mitchell Johnson’s casualties:

Mitchell Johnson not only bowled his heart out in both the series against England and South Africa and created fear psyche and destroyed the career of some players.

• In the first test at Gabba (Brisbane) he sent Jonathan Trott, the England’s top order batsman to home (England) and Trott never returned for the Ashes series.
• The prolific run scorer and England’s another top order batsman, Kevin Pietersen who was susceptible to bouncers succumbed to Mitchell Johnson’s guile bowling and it cost him his career.
• Other English top order batsmen including their Captain are searching answers for their abysmal performance in the Ashes especially against Mitchell Johnson.
• In South Africa first it was Ryan McLaren, the young bowler unable to duck under Johnson’s bouncer made contact and blood was oozing out from his ears and could not play in the series.
• Last but not the least, Mitchell Johnson’s bowling had a little role in the retirement of the Proteas mercurial Captain, Graeme Smith.

The numbers stack up, eight tests, 59 victims ( 37 in Ashes & 22 in South Africa) and a bunch of rattled batsmen since the start of the 2013-14 Ashes series. Mitch is coming to rule the world! Watch out or crash down.