Johnson leaves behind the nervous '90s

Mitchell Johnson almost quit the game after struggling with an injury and losing his Queensland contract in 2003 but his perseverance, and guidance under Australia's bowling coach Troy Cooley, has transformed him into "the most destructive member" of his team's bowling attack, write Chloe Saltau and Alex Brown in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Thankfully for Australian cricket, Johnson chose the right direction at a critical moment in his life. Sick of the stress fractures and stripped of his Queensland contract in 2003, he returned to Townsville to figure out his priorities. His father urged him to have one more crack at cricket and he did, determined to do it on his own. He got a job driving a plumbing van in the mornings, used the afternoons to get fit and played for his club side, Norths, at the weekends.

In the same newspaper Brown notes how a single-minded Graeme Smith gained the edge. Smith became South African captain at 22, fulfilling a plan he had hatched 10 years earlier, writes Alex Brown.

Also, Chloe Saltau speaks to AB de Villiers, the star for South Africa in the first Test, about his desire to emulate his boyhood hero Jonty Rhodes, and his state of mind before the final day in Perth, where he scored a century to help his team pull off the second highest run-chase in Test history.

All three, Johnson, Smith, and de Villiers feature in Peter Roebuck's Test team of the year, in the Sydney Morning Herald.