time to time he also struggled to piece it all together, and his career lows were as infuriating as the highs were intoxicating. His finished with a career average that was closer to 30 than to 20, largely due to periods when form and confidence deserted him. In the period between July 2010 and the end of 2011, he leaked almost 46 runs per wicket over 13 Test matches, taking only 35 wickets. He also conceded 3.7 runs per over during this period, giving the team neither control nor wickets. In the five series he played during this period, be averaged more than 35 in four, and more than 50 in three.

When he returned to the team a year later, though, he found his mojo again, and overthe next two years was at the top of his game. England were demolished in the home Ashes in 2013-14, and just to prove that wasn't a fluke performance, he repeated the dose in South Africa early in 2014. In those two series he took 59 wickets from just eight Tests, at an average of 15.23 and a strike rate of 32 balls per wicket. Nearly half the five-fors he took in his entire career came during this eight-Test period.

Mitchell Johnson's Test career Period Tests Wickets Average SR 5WI Till June 2010 34 155 28.03 52.1 5 Jul 2010 to Dec 2011 13 35 45.71 74.1 2 Jan 2012 to Jun 2015 19 101 20.60 40.0 5 Jul 2015 onwards 7 22 39.27 58.4 0 Career 73 313