Aussie Mitchell Johnson hurt South Africa

Australia's Mitchell Johnson bruised South Africa not only with lethal deliveries but also with his mighty willow

Aussie Mitchell Johnson hurt South Africa

Australia's Mitchell Johnson bruised South Africa not only with lethal deliveries but also with his mighty willow

He is being spoken of in the same breath as Keith Miller, Richie Benaud and Alan Davidson following his heroic exploits on the current tour of South Africa, which have seen him batter and bruise home team batsmen with lethal deliveries of the kind which injured Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis and score an audacious century in the Cape Test to boot.

Mitchell Johnson. pic/AFP

Johnson, named the Man of the Series, was Australia's third highest run scorer in the Tests, with 255 runs at an average of 85, behind only Phillip Hughes (415) and Simon Katich (260).

He scored 96 not out in Johannesburg in hazardous conditions to help his side win and 123 runs from only 103 balls (11 fours and five sixes) in the Cape Town Test, with his side facing defeat.

Moreover, Johnson was his team's highest wicket-taker, his 16 wickets coming at 25, prompting comparisons with Alan Davidson, considered Australia's best ever bowling all-rounder, and England's illustrious Ian Botham.

Talented lad
Mitchell Johnson's captain Ricky Ponting said of him after the third Test: "He's always had the talent there and a good skill base. He works hard on his batting, now he needs to keep improving in certain areas.

"But as we saw today, if someone can go out there
and score a Test match 100 in 80-odd balls when you've got your backs to the wall, a lot of games are won as a result of somebody doing something like that.

"We saw in Johannesburg what he's been capable of, so it's a matter of him u2026working hard and making himself into that really good all-rounder that he can become."

Although Ponting suggested it in jest, there is a real possibility of Johnson being asked to open in at least one of the two forthcoming Twenty20 games on the current tour.

South Africa's acting captain Jacques Kallis also rates Johnson, a plumber's truck driver, extremely high as an all-rounder.

"He's an unbelievable cricketer, the type of cricketer any captain wants in his side. We saw that from early on in Australia," he said.

"To bowl at 150 km/h like he does, being a left-armer as well, and then to come in at No 8 or No 9 and hit the ball cleanly as he des, what more do you want?"

Australian fast bowling legend Dennis Lillee is reported to have said five years ago that Mitchell Johnson would be a "once in a lifetime talent". Coming from Lillee, that's no small endorsement.

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