Mitchell Johnson announces retirement from Big Bash League

What’s the story?

Former Australian fast bowler, Mitchell Johnson, has pulled down the curtains on his Big Bash career. The news was confirmed on Wednesday (July 25) morning that Johnson has retired from the Big Bash League (BBL).

In case you didn’t know…

Mitchell Johnson played for Perth Scorchers in the last two seasons and picked up 20 wickets at an average of 22.75 and economy of 6.14.

He played an instrumental part in Perth’s title-winning season in 2016-17 (BBL 06). He took 13 wickets in 9 games at an economy of 5.91 and an average of 15.50 in that season which included a match-winning performance of 3/3 against Melbourne Stars in the semi-final.

Johnson retired from international cricket in 2015 but has featured in some of the T20 leagues. Recently, he was a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders side in this year’s IPL and played 6 games.

The Details

The 8th season of the Big Bash League (BBL) will now have a full home and away format where each team will play the other teams once at home and once away.

Hence, with its expanded format, each BBL team will now play 14 games per season and that is one of the reasons for Johnson’s retirement from the league.

“The intensity and length of the BBL is too much for someone who will be 37 at the start of the summer. Mitch (Johnson) has put his name up for the Emirates tournament in Dubai, but that is half the length of the BBL,” Johnson's manager Sam Halvorsen told The West Australian.

What’s next?

The West Australian pacer, who will turn 37 by the time Big Bash starts, will ply his trade in the inaugural United Arab Emirates T20 league and might play the T-10 tournament as well. However, there is no confirmation about his participation in next year’s IPL.