Some interesting angles on Mitchell Johnson’s career as a bowler and all-rounder in Tests:
There have not been too many left-arm pace bowlers who lasted long in Tests. Here is a list of all 12 who took over 100 wickets:
Johnson is in third place here, having crept past Zaheer Khan in the course of the Perth test. He stands 5th out of 12 in the bowling averages. Now we come to something strange. He has the worst economy rate of 3.33 as well as the best strike rate of 51.1 among his fellow left-arm pacers.
Now we see how he compares with other Australian bowlers of all varieties-13 of whom have taken 200-plus wickets in Tests:
Note the inevitable omission of the Aus-ICC XI Test.
Here Mitchell is 4th in wickets taken, a little ahead of Brett Lee. His average of 28.40 is 10th in this list. As in the above table, his economy rate and strike rate are quite divergent. His economy rate of 3.33 is better than only that of Brett Lee. But his strike rate is the best at 51.1, a little ahead of McGrath and Lillee.
Considering his all-round ability: he did not reach the levels of the “next Miller” as his early 90s and 100 seemed to indicate, but he did achieve 2000-plus runs in addition to his 313 wickets.
Here we compare oranges with oranges, i.e. with other all-rounders who batted left-handed, bowled left-arm pace and crossed 2000 runs and 100 wickets:
Only four players in Test history fit these criteria, and Mitchell ranks 4th among them if you take the difference in batting and bowling averages.
Finally, we compare his figures to Australian all-rounders of all kinds who scored 2000 runs and 100 wickets:
Only 4 here-and not everyone would call Warne an all-rounder. Here Mitchell comes third, ahead of Warne.
Anyway let us wish him a happy retirement as he has retired from all international cricket as well as first-class cricket.
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