While Perth’s historic Waca stadium hosts its final Test – the third match of the Ashes between Steve Smith’s Australia and Joe Root’s England – Mitchell Johnson was bending his back and bowling snorters not too far away.
The aggressive former Australia pacer has hung up his international boots but continues to play in Twenty20 leagues around the world. On Thursday, he was in action for the Perth Scorchers in a Big Bash League warm-up match against the England Lions at Perth’s new Optus Stadium, which will take over from the Waca ground after this ongoing Test.
The Waca was historically known for its surface that provided plenty of pace and bounce for the quick bowlers, and if Johnson’s bowling on the new strip at the Optus Stadium, which will soon host international and domestic cricket, is anything to go by, opposition teams are in for something.
Johnson had terrorised English batsmen during the 2013-’14 Ashes, taking 37 wickets in five Tests with his fiery bowling. The 36-year-old took only two England Lions wickets on Thursday but if any of the senior England batsmen who were part of that 2013-’14 series were watching, they would surely have been glad that Johnson was bowling at a different Perth ground.
Sample this delivery:
He also effected this run-out with a direct hit from the boundary:
Perth Scorchers won the match by six wickets. You can watch the highlights of the match, including a few more Johnson deliveries, here on YouTube.
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