Mitchell Johnson
From Cricipedia - The Cricket Encyclopedia!
Mitchell Johnson was born on the 2nd of November 1981 in Townsville. He currently stands at 189cm and is listed at 94 kgs.
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Being Discovered
As a youngster, Johnson was keen on tennis. Despite playing cricket from the age of eight while growing up in North Queensland, tennis was still his main priority until a chance meeting with Dennis Lillee at the age of 17. Watching Johnson's bowling at a coaching clinic in Brisbane, it only took a few deliveries for Lillee to be convinced that what he was watching was something special. Dennis quickly sent him to Rod Marsh at the Cricket Academy, which was then at Adelaide, and he was installed in the Under 19 program for the next two years.
First Class Debut
Johnson made his Pura Cup debut for Queensland against Western Australia at the WACA on the 8th November 2001. Picking up 2/66 off 19 in the first innings, and 1/44 off 13 in the second; Mitchell showed some promise. However, his most memorable moment of the match was when he walked out to bat. Taking guard, he proceeded to smash the first ball of his first class career over the fence for six. After this match, it looked like Johnson had the potential to have a long, illustrious career for Queensland and possibly the national side.
Struggles
However, it didn't happen straight away for Mitchell. He suffered a long line of injuries, of which the most dehabilitating was numerous stress fractures to his back. Being a fast bowler, the back is arguably the most important part of your body. While suffering through these injuries, Johnson's motivaton for cricket began to wane. In his last set of stress fractures, his Queensland contract was not renewed by the state selectors. Mitchell took this time to go back up to Townsville and re-assess where he was at. He overcame his injuries and headed back down to the city to give cricket a second shot.
Breakout
T.B.C
