Ian Johnson With The Australian Cricket Team in England in 1948 - Role

Role

An off spinner, Johnson was a member of Bradman’s first-choice team, playing in four of the five Tests before being dropped for the final rubber. He also played in the matches against Worcestershire, the MCC and Leveson-Gower's XI, where Australia selected their strongest possible team. However, Johnson was not prominent in the Test success, taking seven wickets at 61.00, his best result being 3/72 in the first innings of the Second Test. Among the five frontline bowlers used in four or more Tests, Lindwall, Miller, Toshack, Johnston and Johnson, the last had the worst average by a factor of almost two; Toshack averaged 33.09 and the others less than 23.50. Lindwall and Johnston took 27 wickets each, while Miller and Toshack took 13 and 11 respectively. Johnson’s economy rate was the second worst of the quintet and his strike rate of 156.86 was more than twice as bad as the others, with the exception of Toshack (94.46). Johnson also had little impact with the bat, scoring 51 runs at 10.20, but he did take five catches in the slips.

Johnson had more success in the tour matches, taking 85 wickets at 18.37 in all first-class matches. This placed him third in the wicket-taking and fifth in the averages among the Australians. In the first-class matches excluding the Tests, Johnson was the leading wicket-taker. He bowled more overs than anyone but Johnston, allowing Bradman to ease the workload on his pace spearheads Lindwall and Miller, allowing them to conserve energy ahead of the Tests. Johnson's most successful game with the ball was against Gloucestershire, which yielded match figures of 11/100. Like his bowling, Johnson’s batting was also more successful outside of the Tests, scoring 543 runs at 30.16 in 22 innings, with a top-score of 113 not out against Somerset and an 80 against a MCC team that consisted almost entirely of Test players. Johnson usually batted at No. 7 or No. 8, although he was notably used as a makeshift opener in the Third Test and scored an aggressive 74 at No. 3 in the run-chase against Hampshire.N- Johnson was prominent in the field, taking 23 catches, the most by a non-wicket-keeper on tour. He usually fielded in the slips.

Wisden Cricketers' Almanack noted that while Johnson had started the tour well, he was not as effective in English conditions as on his home pitches in Australia.

was not so troublesome to batsmen in Tests as when at home, principally because of the difference in pace of the pitches and his inability to bowl round the wicket, an almost essential part in the make-up of an off-spinner in England. False expectation against Johnson in Australia usually cost a batsman his wicket, but on slower English pitches there was time to change a stroke and still keep the ball out of the stumps, even though beaten by flight. —Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1949