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Mitchell Johnson Retires

Adders

Adders

Cricketer Of The Year
Spark said:
That ball he bowled to Cook in Adelaide is still the most viscerally stunning single piece of cricket I've seen.
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Indeed. Even though I was gutted at the time I can look back at that and feel genuinely privileged that I got to witness that opening spell live at the ground.

It was like nothing I've ever seen (or heard) before. Johnson hit 150 klms with the first ball of the innings and each ball in that first over was faster than the one before.......the Adelaide crowd was just going ****ing mental and I remember thinking at the time that this must have been what it was like when Dennis Lillee was steaming in with the crowd baying for blood in back in the day.
 
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Red

Red

The normal awards that everyone else has
Sorry to bring my usual ATG crap into this, but the top 4 Australian wicket takers of all time would make a pretty epic bowling attack with all the variety you need:

Lillee
McGrath
Johnson
Warne

Great career by Johnson, loved it when he seemed shot but re-found his mojo along with his mo. Was ****ing scary good at times.
 
wellAlbidarned

wellAlbidarned

International Coach
As a young wannabe left armer, I've spent more than my fair share of time trying to imitate Johnson. What I've learned from my efforts is that bowling that way takes serious commitment to a certain way of life. He was never aiming to be the club stalwart who bowls 8 overs first up 2-30 week after week. He didn't give a **** about seam release. He didn't know when it's gonna swing. His pitch radar had two settings: "I hit stumps" and "I hit faces". As far as true, distilled fast bowling goes, he's the purest we've seen since Thommo.
 
M

Midwinter

State Captain
theegyptian said:
Interesting. I don't see any of the vitriol that Swann got for retiring mid series. I guess a lot of people have changed their views in the last couple of years.
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Everyone knew he was not the bowler he had been, he had a poor ashes series and hadn't done well so far this series.

We are all glad he jumped before he had to be pushed
 
Johnners

Johnners

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
He bowled fine during the Ashes, and he was fine during the first test. ****s should just learn how to catch.
 
GotSpin

GotSpin

Hall of Fame Member
What a rollercoaster of a career. The extreme highs and lows, the entertainment, the frustration and the excitement when it magically clicked again.

I can't deny that I found his bowling so frustrating at times. I can easily admit that I wrote him off and thought his career over.

But oh boy, did he prove me so wrong, and I can't thank him enough for having done so through some amazing series and performances.

If anything, Johnson shows how exciting an even contest (or one that favours the bowler) can be. Fast bowling at its best.
 
sledger

sledger

Spanish_Vicente
I enjoyed watching him when he was bowling pies/was largely innocuous. So most of his career in other words.
 
Furball

Furball

Evil Scotsman
I reckon he's retired because he's become a boring bowler in the last 6 months.

Johnson was always entertaining, it was either **** your pants and hide behind the sofa time as he broke fingers or found swing from nowhere to break batting lineups and have them jumping around all over the place, or sit back and have a laugh time as he struggled to find the cut strip, had the cordon scrambling everywhere to prevent 4 byes, and batsmen gorging themselves on a feast of short, wide rubbish.

This series he's done neither. He's become a nothing bowler, his pace is down so he's not scaring the batsmen anymore, but his control has largely remained so he's not getting hilariously flogged. It's been sad to watch.

Shame he's gone from all formats. I always thought he was a criminally under-rated ODI bowler because of his Test woes when he was at his worst.

And as a batsman I loved watching him. One of the best to watch when he got going IMO, played absolutely gorgeous shots and tonked them for ****ing miles. Loved his only ton in South Africa, got left stranded on 96* previously due to a hilarious collapse, looked like it was going to happen again so he made sure he got there by biffing Steyn for six.

One of my favourites. Test cricket is definitely a poorer place for having lost him, whether it was the bowling to the left and right enigma, or the wrecking ball of 2013/14.
 
Furball

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Furball said:
One of my favourites. Test cricket is definitely a poorer place for having lost him, whether it was the bowling to the left and right enigma, or the wrecking ball of 2013/14.
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On this, if someone can merge Johnson with the mo onto Miley, that would be most amusing.
 
GIMH

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Adelaide 2013 was terrifying. Was hard to imagine this was the same guy who had delighted us at Lord's in 09 or in non-Perth Tests that he played in 10-11
 
Top_Cat

Top_Cat

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Spark said:
That ball he bowled to Cook in Adelaide is still the most viscerally stunning single piece of cricket I've seen.
Click to expand...
I maintain to this day that he intended that ball to go the other way. Which, of course, only adds to the man as a bowler.
 
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