On Saturday, the former Australian international left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson announced his retirement from all forms of cricket.
Starting his professional cricket career in 2001/02, Johnson played 117 first-class matches, 184 List A matches and 112 T20 matches where he took 465, 284 and 123 wickets respectively. Though he last played the first-class and List A cricket in 2015, he featured in the various T20 tournaments before announcing his retirement.
The 36-year-old played his last professional cricket game in IPL 2018 for Kolkata Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians at Mumbai (on May 6, 2018). Featuring the IPL since 2013, Johnson played 54 matches in the tournament history and picked up 61 wickets. In 2013, which was his first IPL season also, Johnson had taken 24 wickets and finished as the joint third-most wicket-taker in that IPL season.
The left-arm pacer had played international cricket from 2005 to 2015 where he had played 73 Tests, 153 ODIs and 30 T20Is and had taken 313, 239 and 38 wickets respectively. As a left-handed batsman, Johnson was also a very handy lower-order batsman who had scored 3,125 runs in international career including one Test century and 13 international half-centuries (11 in Tests and 2 in ODIs).
Johnson was the member in the 2007 Australian World Cup-winning squad but didn’t play a single match in the tournament. However, he played an important role for Australia to win the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup where he had taken 15 wickets in eight games.
The left-arm pacer had won the ICC Cricketer of the Year award twice (2009 and 2014) and also had bagged once the ICC Test Player of the Year award.
According to PerthNow, Johnson said about his final call on cricket career, “It is over. I’ve bowled my final ball. Taken my final wicket. Today I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket. I had hoped to continue playing in various Twenty20 competitions around the world until perhaps the middle of next year. But the fact is my body is starting to shut down. During this year’s Indian Premier League tournament I had a few back problems and that was probably a sign that it was time to move on.
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“If I can’t play at 100 per cent then I can’t give my best to the team. And for me it’s always been about the team. I’d like to thank the Scorchers for the last two fantastic summers and the WACA for everything my adopted cricket home has done for me over the past decade. Christina Matthews and the team there have always bent over backwards to help me out. A huge thank you to the fans as well. I will never forget the atmosphere at the WACA Ground or the smiling faces of the kids. My competitive urge hasn’t left me and hopefully, that’s something I can use to channel into a coaching or mentoring role in the future. I’m a believer in sticking to your strengths and cricket is my strength.”
“Now it’s all over, the stand-out memories include the 2013/14 Ashes summer, the South African tours – including my only Test century in Cape Town in 2009 – and the World Cups. I saw more highs and lows than most cricketers and I’m proud that I was able to fight back from adversity in the latter part of my career and produce consistent performances. I made mistakes and I learnt from them. Slipping a long way down the pecking order as I battled a serious toe injury didn’t deter me. I’d already lost my Queensland contract as a youngster and I knew what it felt like.
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“I also knew that I could make it back. It wasn’t that I thought I could. I knew that I could play for Australia again if I worked hard and really wanted it. At my best, I felt like I was meant to be out there and I didn’t have to force anything. It just happened. My manager recently reminded me I had won the ICC Cricketer of the Year twice. But more than the games, the trophies and achievements, I remember my close mates and miss the camaraderie.
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“Achieving things with your closest friends makes it even more thrilling. I was fortunate to play alongside some of the all-time greats of the game. When I sit back and reflect I don’t ever want to lose those memories. We all lead separate lives once we retire but I’m determined to keep catching up for a beer. Especially with the fast bowlers such as Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle. And you can throw in Nathan Lyon. I’ll always be a proud Queenslander but WA is home now.”
