RoastedLinuxMitchell Johnson robbed of Alan Border Medal
February 4th 2009 01:24
Australian fast bowler Mitchell Johnson can count himself unlucky not to be wearing the Alan Border Medal in 2009.
Johnson was the hot tip by many to walk away with Australian Cricket's most illustrious individual honour, given he had a fine Test series against the South Africans late in 2008.
His performance in the first test against the Proteas was sublime, taking 10 wickets and scoring over 64 runs to nearly thrust the Baggy Green over the line against South Africa.
Although Australia did not win the match, Johnson won Perth's heart and also took over Brett Lee's mantle as the premier fast bowler the Baggy Green have to offer.
Indeed his form continued in the next two tests against the Proteas, most notably in the SCG test where Johnson snared the last wicket of captain Graeme Smith to seal victory for the Aussies.
Although the 27 year old has had a lean ODI summer to date, the work done earlier should have propelled Johnson to blaze the rest of the field last night and claim the Alan Border Medal in a canter.
It was not to be though for Johnson as both Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke shared the honours as the best players of Australian Cricket for 2007-08.
Although Clarke had an outstanding summer with the bat, in particular the Test series against South Africa, Ponting on the other hand was yet to rediscover his run scoring potency.
His best performance so far this summer was in the second test against the Proteas, where he nearly scored two centuries in as many innings for Australia.
But to win the Alan Border Medal, one thinks that more consistency needs to be shown if one is worthy of such an honour.
Johnson did show consistency with the ball in hand and was arguably the player most likely to change the course of a match for Australia.
He was Australia's highest wicket taker in their series loss against the Proteas, and the second overall between the two sides, beaten only by South African star Dale Steyn.
In a Baggy Green outfit that has failed to produce all summer, Johnson was the shining light in which Australia used to possibly find a way to victory.
Although that was not the case, it should have led Johnson to an Alan Border Medal.
| 50 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
