Mitchell Johnson announces BBL retirement; open to play T10 tournament

Johnson's last game for BBL was against Hobart in last summer’s semi-final which they lost.

Mitchell Johnson has taken a call of not returning to the Perth Scorchers for this summer’s BBL season as he has confirmed having played his last game in Australia. However, retirement from BBL has not stopped him from participating in T20 domestic circuit internationally. He is eyeing for a spot in the T10 tournament which will be hosted in UAE.

“The intensity and length of the BBL is just too much for someone who will be 37 at the start of the summer,” Johnson’s manager, Sam Halvorsen, told The West Australian newspaper. “Mitch has put his name up for the Emirates tournament in Dubai, but that is half the length of the BBL.”

Johnson’s last game for BBL was against Hobart in last summer’s semi-final which they lost. This move also puts his next year’s IPL  in doubt. This year he was bagged by the Kolkata Knight Riders  (KKR) for his base price of INR 2 crores. He even played six games for them but could only manage to pick two wickets and was expensive with economy over 10.

The T10 tournament is scheduled to begin in early December. Shane Watson, Chris Lynn, James Faulkner and Ben Laughlin were selected in this week’s “mini-draft” in Dubai, with Johnson among the pool of players for the main draft on September 2.