“To be honest, that doesn’t really make any sense,” Johnson said of his numbers Saturday night. “It’s nice to be back at the SCG. My last time here was in the Big Bash final and the conditions were in the player’s favour.”
Like that BBL game, where he was hit for three boundaries off his four balls before turning things around, it was not an ideal start in front of a crowd of 31,563 as his first ball went five times down the leg side. and his The third was the first to slip.
“I’ve played enough T20 cricket to know that, match after match, you can have good matches and bad matches,” Johnson said. “A lot of times it’s not your fault. You can execute badly. But I knew tonight I had three overs to recover. I felt like the first over in that Big Bash final I was a little bit under pressure, and “I was thinking about that game and that I was still I had three overs to contribute to the team.”
Johnson is among a group of Australian fast bowlers fighting for their opportunities in white-ball cricket when the big three of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are absent as they are in this series. With that trio talking about Test cricket being a priority, there could be some chance of renewal in Australia’s first-choice T20 attack ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup following their exit from the Super Eight in this year’s tournament. , although Johnson does not expect a quick change. .
“I know the big three are going to be here for a long time,” Johnson said. “They’re not going anywhere, they’re just getting better. Being able to participate and be part of the team a lot more will only help me there. They’re incredibly durable and they’ve done it for so long. They’re definitely the benchmark.”
Johnson, who missed the white-ball tour of the UK in September with a side strain, admitted that going back game after game remained a challenge for him. He is expected to play the final T20I in Hobart on Monday, which would make it four games in a row, as he also featured in the deciding ODI in Perth and has his sights set on a Sheffield Shield exit for South Australia ahead of the BBL with Brisbane Heat.
“The durability question mark is there for me and hopefully the more I play, the more durable I will become.” said. “I feel like the body is getting there. It’s taken its time.”
