Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson is Australia's most exciting fast-bowling prospect since Brett Lee first dyed his roots.

Mitchell Johnson is Australia's most exciting fast-bowling prospect since Brett Lee first dyed his roots. He's quick, he's tall, he's insanely talented, but most of all, he's a left-armer.

Only the digging up of a blond legspinner can create more excitement in an Australian cricket scene that has seen just two of this style of diamond - Alan Davidson and Bruce Reid - pass 100 Test wickets. Picked in the one-day side on promise - his best first-class figures after 12 first-class games were 5 for 43 - Johnson's future depends on whether he can stay fit.

Dennis Lillee fell hard and instantly when he spotted him as a 17-year-old at a Pace Australia camp and called him "a once in a generation bowler". Lillee immediately phoned Rod Marsh, who was then the Australian Academy head coach, and Johnson was quickly headed to Adelaide and the national under-19 team.

Injuries, mostly to his back, kept interrupting his long-term plans but he played a full season in 2004-05 and was a fixture with Queensland a year later after being picked for Australia A's tour of Pakistan. Another representative catapult arrived last December when Trevor Hohns launched him into the Australian one-day squad for the final match of the 2005-06 Chappell-Hadlee Series.

Johnson's domestic highlight came when he followed The Bulls' 6 for 900 declared in the Pura Cup final with 6 for 51 and ten for the match to mop up a demoralised Victoria. "What a performance on a flat wicket," his captain Jimmy Maher said.

The display cemented a spot on the Bangladesh tour, where he added to two expensive one-day matches against New Zealand and South Africa with three solid returns. In May he was given a full Cricket Australia contract only two years after driving a delivery truck and considering walking away from the game because of his fourth back stress injury.