Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson said yesterday he was retiring from all forms of cricket as his body was “starting to shut down”, almost three years after he stepped down from the international game.
The 36-year-old quit Twenty20 Big Bash League (BBL) team the Perth Scorchers last month, but had not ruled out playing in the Indian Premier League or other domestic Twenty20 competitions.
“It’s over. I’ve bowled my final ball. Taken my final wicket. Today I announce my retirement from all forms of cricket,” Johnson wrote for the Perth Now news website yesterday.
“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.”
Johnson said he experienced back problems during this year’s IPL and “that was probably a sign that it was time to move on”.
“I’m ready to break clear of playing cricket and move on to the next period of my life,” he added.
“If I can’t play at 100 percent then I can’t give my best to the team. And for me it’s always been about the team.”
Johnson said he would consider channelling his “competitive edge” into a coaching or mentoring role in the future.
Renowned for his ferocious pace, Johnson announced
his retirement from international cricket during the Test series against New Zealand in Perth in November 2015, saying he had lost the hunger to play the long form of the game.
From the coastal Queensland city of Townsville, Johnson made his first class debut
with the state in 2001 before getting his start in the Test team in 2007.
His best haul was 8-61 against South Africa, at the WACA in 2008.
Described by long-time mentor Dennis Lillee as a “once in a generation” bowler, the former ICC Cricketer of the Year played 73 Tests for Australia, claiming 313 wickets.
He also claimed 239 wickets in 153 one-day internationals, and 38 wickets in 30 Twenty20
internationals for Australia.
Mitchell Johnson joined the Scorchers following his retirement from international cricket.
In the IPL, he had stints with the Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kings XI Punjab.
Few players have become as inextricably linked to a single series as Mitchell Johnson to Australia’s 5-0 whitewash of England in the 2013-14 Ashes.
Johnson’s searing pace was as awesome as it was terrifying, made all the more sinister
by a jet-black handlebar moustache.
During those five Tests, every delivery Johnson bowled was an event, full of danger for an England batting line-up that was dismantled in front of a baying home crowd.
Although Johnson stalked his way through English nightmares, even England fans can recognise a wonderful tale of sporting redemption after he was tormented by the Barmy Army in 2010-11.
Then, as England claimed a historic win down under, Johnson became a figure of fun, the subject of a song that claimed “he bowls to the left, he bowls to the right” as he struggled with his accuracy.
While he may be best remembered for his Ashes peaks and troughs, Johnson was supremely talented all-round cricketer – only spinner Shane Warne, pacers Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee have taken more Test wickets for Australia.
Mitchell Johnson
