The matchwinner

When he was at his best, there were few more compelling sights in cricket than Mitchell Johnson bowling at full pelt: he was among the quickest around, he bowled a fearsome bouncer, and his ability to intimidate was second to none. Consistency wasn't his strongest suit, but that unpredictability made him even more exciting to watch. He finishes as the fourth-highest wicket-taker in both Tests and ODIs for Australia, which in itself is tremendous given the number of high-quality bowlers who have played for Australia, but Johnson's biggest attribute wasn't just the number of wickets he took, but the number of games he won for Australia: in the last eight years (which is the duration of his Test career), no player won more Man-of-the-Match awards in Teststhan Johnson - along with Kumar Sangakkara and Dale Steyn, he won nine, which is the highest during this period.

Most MoM awards in Tests from Nov 2007 Player Tests MoM awards Mitchell Johnson 73 9 Kumar Sangakkara 67 9 Dale Steyn 68 9 Stuart Broad 87 8 Rangana Herath 53 8 James Anderson 91 7 Mahela Jayawardene 61 7 Daniel Vettori 40 7

When Johnson bowled well, Australia usually won Test matches. Not only did he take plenty of wickets, he also took them quickly, giving the Australian batsmen plenty of time to overhaul the opposition totals to set up the wins. In the 39 Test wins that Johnson was involved in, he took 198 wickets at 21.72, whereas in defeats his average ballooned to 40.68.

Johnson's strike rate of