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Before Australia wrapped up their 5-0 Ashes whitewash against England on Sunday afternoon, many started guessing who would receive the prestigious man-of-the-series award.
Brad Haddin was an obvious candidate, with Australia’s vice-captain and wicketkeeper showing poise and leadership reminiscent of his predecessors Adam Gilchrist and Ian Healy.
Haddin capitalised on his team’s solid bowling unit throughout the series, holding on to 22 catches from behind the stumps, and was almost always there to steady the ship at No.7 in the batting order, averaging over 61 runs.
But after watching the first Test at the Gabba, I had no doubt in my mind as to who would be man-of-the-series.
Mitchell Johnson’s sublime bowling performance may have come as a shock to some, none more so than Enlgand’s batsmen.
With three five-wicket hauls and just as many man-of-the-match efforts, Johnson led Australia’s pace attack from the front, with all-rounder Ben Stokes the only English batsman to offer any resistance to Johnson’s dominance.
Johnson finished the series with 37 scalps at an average of 13.97, the best figures ever by an Australian fast bowler in a five-Test Ashes series.
He also proved to be handy with the bat, scoring a half century in the first Test, and averaging 27.5 runs in the series, more than England’s captain and opening batsman Alastair Cook (24.6), and their middle order batsman Ian Bell (23.5).
What amazes me most about Johnson is his ability to come back from the brink and bowl at the searing pace he always had, but with such a high level of precision, accuracy and consistency that he never had.
Maybe it was his lucky handle bar moustache that did the trick?
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