Victorious skipper Michael Clarke rated Mitchell Johnson among the fast bowling greats after spearheading Australia to a 5-0 Ashes whitewash of England.
The lethal left-arm paceman captured three for 40 as England surrendered to a 281-run defeat in the final Test to finish with 37 wickets for the series at 13.97.
Johnson edged wicketkeeper Brad Haddin as the man of the series, and he set the tone for Australia’s domination with man-of-the-match honours in three of the five Tests.
Clarke said 32-year-old Johnson’s sustained aggressive bowling throughout the series was an amazing achievement. “I hate to say I told you all so but I told you all so,” Clarke chided reporters at his post-match conference.
“Man of the series, who would have thoughtIJ Except me and perhaps Mitch. He’s been an amazing bowler for a long time. I think the way he’s come back into this team... He’s bowled with great aggression.
“To be able to bowl at that pace is one thing, to do it for five Test matches, every single innings to be able to back it up is an amazing achievement.”
Clarke said Johnson ranks alongside modern-day Australian pace greats with his Ashes performances. “Mitchell bowled a couple of spells in this series that are without doubt as good a spells as I’ve seen in my career,” he said.
“And I’ve been lucky enough to play with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Brett lee and Shane Warne.
“Mitch’s spells certainly match the greats, if not better. He deserves all the credit he’s received, he’s copped a lot of criticism, he’s been dropped from the team. No one in the world can doubt Mitchell Johnson’s character ever again.
“He’s as tough a cricketer as I’ve played with, to be able to come back from the criticism he’s copped, to be dropped at an older age and have the attitude and hunger to say ‘No, I’m not going to give up’, credit to him. He deserves the accolades.”
‘oz ready for SA challenge’
Clarke said Australia will take the greatest bowling attack in world cricket to South Africa next month in a bid to challenge the number one Test side. The victorious Australian skipper knows that Graeme Smith’s Proteas will give his Australians an idea of where they stand in Test cricket after a lopsided series against England.
“We have the greatest attack in the world and they’ve shown it,” Clarke said.
It’s certainly going to be a challenge for us to perform over there and then our next Test series is in the UAE against Pakistan which is going to be extremely tough as well. “Playing away from home in international cricket seems to be hard to get results. We believe we have the team to have success.”
Clarke said it will take more than one series win to prove Australia are the best team in world cricket. “We aren’t going to win in South Africa and all of a sudden think we’re the best team in the world,” he said. “It’s not about that. It’s about consistency home and away over long periods of time and if you do that you will get the results you’re after.”
Australia play South Africa in three Tests, starting at Centurion on February 12.
Australia coach Darren lehmann said he took over a team which needed direction when appointed in England last year and he put his faith in a band of experienced players to win back the urn at home after three-straight series of Ashes failure. lehmann admitted the extent of his team’s dominance surprised even him but said they still had plenty more to prove.