Bill Johnston With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Role

Role

Johnston played as a left-arm fast bowler when the ball was new and conducive to pace bowling, before reverting to finger spin when it became old and lost its shine. He was Australia's third fast bowler in the Tests, reinforcing the new ball pairing of Keith Miller and Ray Lindwall, who were regarded as one of the finest pace duos of all time. Bradman typically used Miller and Lindwall in short and sharp new ball bursts against the local batsmen. England had agreed that a new ball would be available every 55 overs, a milestone that usually came more frequently than the old regulation of 200 runs for every ball. This allowed Australia—who had the superior pace attack—more frequent use of a shiny ball, which swung at high pace. Johnston typically bowled pace after the first-choice pair had finished their new ball spell, before reverting to spin when the ball was worn. He took 27 wickets at 23.33 in the Tests, making him the equal-leading wicket-taker along with Lindwall, who averaged 19.62. The Australian pacemen’s tally was substantially more than the next best, recorded by England's Alec Bedser, who took 18 wickets at 38.22.

In both the Test and county matches during the 1948 tour, Johnston carried the heaviest workload, bowling nearly 200 overs more than any other squad member. He was the leading wicket-taker in all first-class matches with 102 wickets at 16.42, and the last Australian to take a century of wickets on a tour of England. His average was only slightly inferior to that of Lindwall, who took 86 wickets at 15.68. The roles Johnston fulfilled are borne out in his economy rate and strike rate. He was more economical than Miller and Lindwall, who took wickets more frequently.

Johnston's performances prompted Bradman to call him "Australia's greatest left-hand bowler". As a result of his ability to bowl spin and pace, teammate Neil Harvey thought the team effectively had 13 players, saying "we reckoned Bradman was worth two and Bill Johnston was worth two ". Harvey rated Johnston the best team man in the squad, and Bill Brown praised Johnston's work ethic in bowling for long periods after Lindwall and Miller had been given the best opportunities with the new ball. Spin bowling teammate Ian Johnson described him as "the finest team man and tourist" in cricket and valued his personality, while Miller described him as "the most popular man in cricket". Johnston sometimes amused his colleagues by demonstrating his double jointedness, wrapping his feet around the back of his neck. He was reputed to have nearly drowned when he attempted this in the communal bath at Lord's.

After carrying a heavy workload in the early stages of the tour, Johnston was used more sparingly in the latter stages. As the tour progressed, Johnston improved his control and restrained England's batsmen between the new ball bursts of Lindwall and Miller. Johnston was chosen as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year. Wisden said "no Australian made a greater personal contribution to the playing success of the 1948 side". Fingleton wrote that Australia had never sent a greater left-hander to England.

During the tour, Johnston had few opportunities with the bat, invariably batting at either No. 10 and No. 11 alongside Toshack, another tail-ender with little batting ability.N- Neither player ever passed 30 in their first-class career, and they were the only two Australians who failed to pass 50 during the tour. As Australia's other frontline bowlers were Miller, Lindwall, Colin McCool, Ian Johnson and Doug Ring, all of whom scored centuries and more than 20 fifties each during their first-class career, Toshack and Johnston were rooted at the bottom of the batting order. As Australia often won by an innings, and declared in the first innings many time due to their batting strength, Johnston only had 18 innings in his 21 first-class fixtures and scored 188 runs at 18.80, the third lowest average and aggregate. He scored 62 runs in the Tests at 20.66, including his highest first-class score of 29 in the Second Test at Lord’s.