The Surfer

Johnson driven to succeed

George Binoy
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Youth and experience: Mitchell Johnson and Glenn McGrath face the press, New Delhi, October 8, 2006

AFP

Admit it. Part of you wonders why Mitchell Johnson is in India with the Australian one-day squad for the Champions Trophy, writes Alex Brown in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Simple answer would be this: express left-arm bowlers, particularly those with the ability to swing the ball, have been the rarest of commodities in Australian cricket for more than a century. Surely, though, there is more to Johnson's rise than a mere attempt by administrators to match a man with a job description. Perhaps, then, the answer lies in the battles Johnson has waged, and seems to be winning, against his body and mind.

George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo