Richard Johnson (cricketer, born 1974)

Richard Leonard Johnson (born 29 December 1974) is a former international English cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium pace swing bowler, Johnson made his first-class debut as a teenager in the 1992 County Championship as an opening bowler for Middlesex. He made headlines in 1994 when he took all ten Derbyshire wickets in their second-innings, returning figures of 10/45. He moved to Somerset in 2001, and made his Test debut two years later. He played three Tests and ten One Day Internationals (ODIs) for England in 2003, his only year of international cricket. He announced his retirement from first-class cricket in October 2007, aged 32.

Career

International recognition

Johnson's first taste of international cricket came during the 1992–93 Coca-Cola International Youth Cricket Challenge in South Africa, where he represented England Under-18s, alongside fellow future Test cricketers Marcus Trescothick and Vikram Solanki.^[1] The following winter, he toured Sri Lanka with England Under-19s, playing one youth Test and three youth One Day Internationals.^[1] He claimed three wickets in each innings of his Test appearance, including that of Mahela Jayawardene,^[2] and followed this up with four wickets in the ODI series, finishing the tournament with a bowling average of 14.16 from his Test and 16.50 from the ODI series.^[3][4]

After his ten-wicket haul against Derbyshire, Johnson was named as part of the England A squad to tour India and Bangladesh in the winter of 1994–95.^[5]

Johnson's Test career began in impressive fashion, as he claimed six wickets in the first-innings of his debut against Zimbabwe in June 2003.^[6] Although he remained wicket-less in the second-innings, Johnson received the man of the match award.^[7] His figures were the sixth best by an Englishman on Test debut.^[8] His One Day International debut came later in the same month as part of the 2003 NatWest Series against Zimbabwe and South Africa. Opening the bowling alongside Darren Gough, he claimed three wickets as Zimbabwe won with two overs to spare.^[9] He went wicket-less in two matches against South Africa before claiming another two Zimbabwean wickets in the following match. Following the return of James Anderson, Johnson was no longer opening the bowling, instead being used as first-change bowler. A five-man pace attack bowled Zimbabwe out for just 92, and despite four wickets from Heath Streak, England won the match in just 17.5 overs.^[10] He claimed his first non-Zimbabwean wicket in the penultimate match of the competition, having Jacques Kallis caught, following it up two overs later with the wicket of Andrew Hall.^[11] Another wicket in the final meant that Johnson finished the tournament with eight wickets for a respectable bowling average of 22.12.^[12] A knee injury prevented Johnson from playing in the following Test series against South Africa.^[13]

Despite his performance on debut, Johnson was not picked as part of the England Test squad to tour Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. However, when Anderson was ruled out with a knee injury, Johnson cancelled his honeymoon and an injury to Steve Harmison in the first Test saw him selected for the second.^[14] He responded by becoming the first English bowler since Nick Cook in 1983 to five-wicket hauls in his first two Tests. He finished with match figures of 9/93, and was once again rewarded by being named man of the match.^[15] In the subsequent ODIs, Johnson claimed three wickets in the second match after remaining wicket-less in the first. Johnson's third, and final, Test appearance came in the first Test against Sri Lanka in December 2003. He claimed a solitary wicket, that of Kumar Sangakkara. England opted to replace Hoggard and Johnson with a sixth batsman and James Kirtley for the second Test, with both bowlers receiving criticism for lacking the variety needed on a flat track at Galle.^[16]

References