Mitchell Guy Johnson

When attending a fast-bowling clinic in Brisbane at age 17, former Test fast-bowler Dennis Lillee identified him as a "once-in-a-lifetime prospect".[1] Lillee contacted former team mate Rod Marsh and arranged for Johnson to join the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.[1] Johnson subsequently played for the Australian Under-19 side that toured England in 1999, however recurrent back injuries hampered his prospects. He recovered to start his first-class career two years later, when he was selected to play state cricket for his native Queensland. Playing for Queensland against New Zealand, Johnson hit a six off the first ball he faced in first-class cricket.

In September 2005, he was in the Australia A cricket team that toured Pakistan. In December 2005, Johnson was selected for the Australian One Day International team, making his debut against New Zealand in Christchurch, with chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns justifying his selection on the grounds of grooming players for the future.

Johnson gave the first signs of his potential at international level against the strong Indian batting line-up in a one-day international in Malaysia, Johnson's 7th. He took 4/11 off just 4 overs, including the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh. Johnson then played in the Australian 2006 ICC Champions Trophy team, and in the group A match against England he took 3/40, including Kevin Pietersen. On 26 January 2007, Johnson took 4 wickets in 8 balls during the seventh match of the CB Series against England, for which he earned Man of the Match honours. In October 2007 Johnson helped Australia seal the ODI series in India. He finished as the top wicket-taker with 14 wickets, which showed his abilities, even on the slow pitches of the sub-continent.[2] In the fifth ODI at Vadodara he took 5/26, his first international five wicket haul.

Johnson switched from the Queensland Bulls to the Western Warriors on 25 July 2008