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He beat off some thoroughbred competition but, when it was all done and dusted, there could be only one winner.
Mitchell Johnson’s regeneration, from laughing stock to lord of all he surveys, culminating in his ascension to ICC Cricketer of the Year – and Test Cricketer of the Year for good measure – has provided evidence that talent, if utilised correctly, will out.
It doesn’t always, of course that can’t be the case, but Johnson’s almost scarcely believable climb and the results it has produced should be a lesson to many in the game.
That is for those in any sphere of influence to worry about so the focus, in this regard anyway, should be squarely on Johnson.
A lot has been made of the one-day series that followed the 2013 Ashes in England as the time when the seeds were sown, but while it was apparent there was a modicum of improvement from the unpredictable scattergun he had developed into, a prediction of what was to come would’ve been a bold move.
I’d go as far as saying, even for those involved at close quarters, that next to nobody could’ve confidently placed any store in the subsequent Test success the left-armer enjoyed.
Hope is not a concrete emotion and fingers crossed do not equal 100 per cent faith and the majority of plaudits have been offered through the lens of hindsight. This isn’t a criticism of any kind, as you can’t praise what you don’t see coming, but it does put the whole episode into context.
The distance Johnson has travelled, and he has always been able to bowl at high speed so it isn’t all down to that particular factor, can be measured by the regard in which he is now held.
He won’t travel to England next summer tagged as a run-leaking liability but as the standout difference between the two sides. ‘We’ve got pace, you haven’t’, if you like.
Numerous inches of column space will be dedicated to the menace and threat he possesses and how it should be countered – some of it well thought out, some hyperbolic. But all the talk is rooted in the chaos his Brisbane efforts caused twelve months ago.
To do what he did in the Ashes was one thing, to continue in South Africa against a far sturdier opponent was another. Boosted by his upturn in fortunes undoubtedly, but secure in the knowledge that a niche had been found that was a comfortable fit.
Bowl quickly, do it in short spells and nothing more. Very simple and even at such a rarified level, very effective.
The challenge for Johnson will be to prevent a tailing-off in output now that he is a marked man. Mark him out of the contest, to use football parlance, and the Australians are negated to some degree as the Pakistanis proved in the recent series.
In the not too distant past, Johnson wouldn’t have been a concern to opponents who knew he could be both tamed and dominated, that his waywardness was a severe Achilles heel.
The opposite is the case as things stand and when it comes to selecting the cream of the crop in the world game, he is a worthy winner.