Mitchell Johnson: 11 interesting statistical milestones from his career

Mitchell Johnson is one of those cricketers, who in his eight years Test career has been one of Australia’s greatest bowler.

Born November 2, 1981, Mitchell Guy Johnson is one of those cricketers, who in his eight years of Test career has been one of Australia’s greatest bowler. At his best, he was simply unplayable and in a career spanning 73 Tests, he went on to claim 313 wickets, ended his career as Australia’s fourth highest wicket-taker behind Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee. On the occasion of his birthday, Abhishek Kumar compiles 11 interesting achievements from his Johnson’s successful career.

1.  Johnson is the third highest wicket-taker in Tests among all the left-arm fast bowlers. Wasim Akram (414 wickets) holds the top spot, followed by Chaminda Vaas (355 wickets).

2.  Among all left-arm pacers in this century, Johnson has the highest number of wickets. He has picked 313 wickets in 73 Tests at 28.40.

3.  He bagged figures of 8 for 61 against South Africa at Perth in December 2008. This remains the best bowling figures by a left-arm fast bowler in Test cricket.

4.  He played his last Test at his home ground at Perth. He is the second highest wicket-taker at the venue. Glenn McGrath has 52 wickets from 12 Tests at Perth, while Johnson has 45 from 7 Tests at 22.77.

5.  In compared to any other venues where Johnson has played, at Perth, he has been the most successful across the formats. He took 68 wickets (most wickets by him at any venue), scored 383 runs (most runs by him at any venue) and pouched 14 catches (most catches by him at any venue) at Perth.

6.  Johnson is the highest wicket taker in The Ashes as a left arm pacer with 87 wickets at 25.81 in 19 Tests. He has three more wickets than the legendary Alan Davidson.

7.  His 37 wickets in 2013-14 Ashes at 13.97, is the most by a left arm pacer in a single Ashes series and also the most by a fast bowler in Ashes since 1981.

8.  He has taken 80 wickets in fourth innings, which is the second best by any fast bowler. Johnson has taken them from 39 innings and is after McGrath, who has 103 wickets from 53 wickets. He has most wickets in fourth innings by a left arm pacer and is fifth in the list after Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath and Anil Kumble.

9.  He is the second Australian to take 300-plus wickets and score over 2000 Tests runs after Shane Warne. He is only the 12th player to do so.

10.  In the year 2008 and 2009, he took the same number of wickets i.e. 63. He never surpassed the 63-mark in a calendar year. Johnson took 63 wickets in both the years. In 2008, he played 14 Tests while in 2009, he played 13.

11. He has troubled many good left-handed batsmen and has dismissed Alastair Cook and Graeme Smith for nine times in Test cricket.

(Abhishek Kumar is a cricket devotee currently staffing with Criclife.com. He can be followed at abhicricket.kumar and @abhik2593)