Batsmen the world over awoke to some wonderful news: they would never again have to face Mitchell Johnson in an international match. The Australian fast bowler announced that the second Test against New Zealand would be his final international appearance. Johnson retires with 239 One-Day International (ODI) wickets and 38 Twenty20 International (T20I) wickets. He has 313 Test wickets, and bows out as Australia’s fourth-highest wicket-taker, both in Test cricket and across formats. Australia have been blessed with some of the games most revered fast bowlers. Players like Charlie Turner, Fred Spofforth, Alan Davidson, Ray Lindwall, Keith Miller, Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, Merv Hughes, Craig McDermott, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, and Brett Lee were some of the most potent pacers of their respective eras. Only McGrath and Lillee are ahead of Johnson in terms of wickets taken, but where does Johnson rank in Australia’s pace pantheon? FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Australia vs New Zealand, 2nd Test match at Perth
It should be kept in mind that while he was an unstoppable force of nature in bouncy tracks at home, he was often made to look pedestrian on surfaces that did not suit his bowling. Consequently, his numbers in Australia and South Africa make for wonderful viewing, but the corresponding numbers in India or England are extremely disappointing. Johnson’s Test average of 28.40 is good without being great, but his strike rate of 51.1 is phenomenal. The wayward bowling resulted in him sometimes going for a few runs, but he was always a wicket-taker. READ: Mitchell Johnson retires as one of Australia’s greatest tearaways
Let us look at Australia’s best pacers in terms of average, with a minimum cut-off of 100 wickets:
Rank
Name
Period
M
W
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
5WI
10WM
1
Charlie Turner
1887-1895
17
101
7/43
12/87
16.53
1.93
51.2
11
2
2
Alan Davidson
1953-1963
44
186
7/93
12/124
20.53
1.97
62.2
14
2
3
Glenn McGrath
1993-2007
124
563
8/24
10/27
21.64
2.49
51.9
29
3
4
Keith Miller
1946-1956
55
170
7/60
10/152
22.97
2.24
61.5
7
1
5
Ray Lindwall
1946-1960
61
228
7/38
9/70
23.03
2.3
59.8
12
0
6
Ryan Harris
2010-2015
27
113
7/117
9/106
23.52
2.78
50.7
5
0
7
Dennis Lillee
1971-1984
70
355
7/83
11/123
23.92
2.75
52
23
7
8
Bruce Reid
1985-1992
27
113
7/51
13/148
24.63
2.67
55.2
5
2
9
Jason Gillespie
1996-2006
71
259
7/37
9/80
26.13
2.85
54.9
8
0
10
Paul Reiffel
1992-1998
35
104
6/71
8/152
26.96
2.62
61.5
5
0
17
Mitchell Johnson
2007-2015
73
313
8/61
12/127
28.40
3.33
51.1
12
3
Johnson does not feature anywhere in the top 10 Australian bowlers of all time in terms of bowling average. He is No. 17 on the list, behind the likes of George Giffen, Terry Alderman, Max Walker, Jeff Thomson, Merv Hughes, and Rodney Hogg. If he manages to take a bunch of wickets in his final innings he might improve his average enough to break into the top 15, but it is highly unlikely he will manage to reach the top 10. READ: Johnson shows signs of effectiveness on docile tracks
However, the relatively high average is to be expected from Johnson, whose USP was never economy. At his pace accuracy and control were sometimes an issue. However, his strike rate makes up for the disappointing average. Let us look at Australia’s best pacers in terms of strike rate, with a minimum cut-off of 100 wickets:
Rank
Name
Period
M
W
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
5WI
10WM
1
Ryan Harris
2010-2015
27
113
7/117
9/106
23.52
2.78
50.7
5
0
2
Mitchell Johnson
2007-2015
73
313
8/61
12/127
28.40
3.33
51.1
12
3
3
Charlie Turner
1887-1895
17
101
7/43
12/87
16.53
1.93
51.2
11
2
4
Glenn McGrath
1993-2007
124
563
8/24
10/27
21.64
2.49
51.9
29
3
5
Dennis Lillee
1971-1984
70
355
7/83
11/123
23.92
2.75
52
23
7
6
Jeff Thomson
1972-1985
51
200
6/46
9/105
28
3.18
52.6
8
0
7
Brett Lee
1999-2008
76
310
5/30
9/171
30.81
3.46
53.3
10
0
8
Jason Gillespie
1996-2006
71
259
7/37
9/80
26.13
2.85
54.9
8
0
9
Bruce Reid
1985-1992
27
113
7/51
13/148
24.63
2.67
55.2
5
2
10
Craig McDermott
1984-1996
71
291
8/97
11/157
28.63
3.01
56.9
14
2
There is very little separating Turner, Johnson, and McGrath. A good or terrible spell would change things, but as things stand, Johnson at No. 2 on the list of Australian pacers with the best strike rate, behind only Ryan Harris. READ: Is strike rate more important than bowling average?
Johnson’s greatest moment in international cricket was perhaps his performance that helped Australia whitewash England in the 2013-14 Ashes. Given the significance of The Ashes, it only makes sense to look at where he lies in terms of Australian bowlers in The Ashes. Let us look at Australia’s best pacers in The Ashes in terms of average, with a minimum cut-off of 50 wickets:
Rank
Name
Period
M
W
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
5WI
10WM
1
Charlie Turner
1887-1895
17
101
7/43
12/87
16.53
1.93
51.2
11
2
2
Rodney Hogg
1978-1983
11
56
7/74
10/66
17
2.17
46.9
5
2
3
Fred Spofforth
1882-1887
13
59
7/44
11/117
19.98
2.31
51.6
3
2
4
Ryan Harris
2010-2014
12
57
7/117
9/106
20.63
2.85
43.3
4
0
5
Glenn McGrath
1994-2007
30
157
8/38
9/82
20.92
2.7
46.3
10
0
6
Terry Alderman
1981-1991
17
100
6/47
10/151
21.17
2.69
47.1
11
1
7
Dennis Lillee
1971-1982
24
128
7/89
11/159
22.32
2.45
54.6
7
2
8
Keith Miller
1946-1956
29
87
7/60
10/152
22.4
2.04
65.7
3
1
9
Ray Lindwal
1946-1959
29
114
7/63
9/70
22.44
2.28
59
6
0
10
Alan Davidson
1953-1963
25
84
6/64
9/79
23.76
1.99
71.3
5
0
13
Mitchell Johnson
2009-2015
19
87
7/40
9/82
25.81
3.57
43.2
5
0
Once again, Johnson fails to make it to the top 10 in terms of average. But once again, his strike rate more than makes up for that. Let us look at Australia’s best pacers in terms of strike rate, with a minimum cut-off of 100 wickets: READ: Mitchell Johnson brings back the art of Fast Bowling
Rank
Name
Period
M
W
BBI
BBM
Ave
Econ
SR
5WI
10WM
1
Mitchell Johnson
2009-2015
19
87
7/40
9/82
25.81
3.57
43.2
5
0
2
Ryan Harris
2010-2014
12
57
7/117
9/106
20.63
2.85
43.3
4
0
3
Craig McDermott
1985-1995
16
84
8/97
11/157
25.53
3.35
45.6
8
1
4
Glenn McGrath
1994-2007
30
157
8/38
9/82
20.92
2.7
46.3
10
0
5
Rodney Hogg
1978-1983
11
56
6/74
10/66
17
2.17
46.9
5
2
6
Terry Alderman
1981-1991
17
100
6/47
10/151
21.17
2.69
47.1
11
1
7
Jeff Thomson
1974-1985
20
97
6/46
9/105
23.89
2.92
49
5
0
8
Jason Gillespie
1997-2005
18
65
7/37
9/102
29.03
3.51
49.5
3
0
9
Charlie Turner
1887-1895
17
101
7/43
12/87
16.53
1.93
51.2
11
2
10
Fred Spofforth
1882-1887
13
59
7/44
11/117
19.98
2.31
51.6
3
2
Johnson’s Ashes strike rate of 43.2 makes him the most lethal Australian pacer with at least 50 Ashes wickets, outstripping Harris, McDermott, McGrath, Hogg, and the rest. Johnson bows out as one of Australia’s most potent wicket-takers, and one of their finest bowlers at home. COMPLETE COVERAGE: Mitchell Johnson retires
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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