The mecurial Mitchell Johnson

If the Australia’s test win in Johannesburg proved anything, apart from that Australia is not dead and buried yet; it proved that Mitchell Johnson is improving as a cricketer with every test.

His first season as a test cricketer was quite underwhelming, considering the amount of hype surrounding him and the fact he had to fill the quite sizable shoes of the finest bowler of modern times; Glenn McGrath.

I must admit I thought him overrated. He did not swing the ball much, a much needed weapon in a left-armer’s armoury, and could at times be wayward. Fast forward another season and he is the leader of the Australian bowling attack.

For Johnson to go from promising change bowler to Australia’s most dangerous bowler within a year shows how vital Johnson has become, and how much he has improved in such a short time.

Johnson has always been consistently quick, and one of his greatest strengths is being able to bowl at a good pace for an entire day. He can get swing, sometimes quite late, and his variations in pace are clever and well disguised.

His batting has improved dramatically. There is no doubt that when his career is over he will have scored at least one test century. He only narrowly missed out in the previous test when he ran out of partners. His stroke play is crisp and his timing quite exquisite. He may not quite reach that level of ability, but there can be some comparisons made to Johnson and other left-arm all-rounders Alan Davidson and Wasim Akram.

The only problem Australia has with Johnson at the moment is the high workload being forced upon him. When Stuart Clark returns that will be partially remedied, but in the meanwhile he is Australia’s best fast bowler and will be a key part of an Australian team rebuilding following its most successful period.