Mitchell Johnson

Mitchell Johnson terrorised batsmen in an era when raw pace was fading from the game. With a slinging left-arm action and a heavy ball that hurried off the pitch, he could make a batter's throat tighten in the space of a single over. At his best he was close to unplayable, bowling at 150 km/h with late inswing and a sharp bouncer. For long stretches his radar failed, and the runs that flowed made him a figure of frustration. But in the southern summer of 2013-14 he flipped a switch, producing months of sustained hostility that dismantled England, 37 wickets in a 5-0 Ashes sweep, and then South Africa, earning him the Allan Border Medal and the ICC Cricketer of the Year award for a second time.

Johnson was more than a one-series marvel. He took 313 Test wickets in 73 matches, often swinging games almost single-handedly. He announced himself in the 2008-09 home series against South Africa with a career-best 8 for 61 in Perth, and on the return tour hammered an unbeaten Test century in Cape Town. A genuinely dangerous lower-order batsman, he passed fifty in Tests eleven times. In limited-overs cricket he claimed 239 ODI wickets and helped Australia win the 2015 World Cup before retiring later that year. His career was a running battle between brilliance and inconsistency, but when the fire was lit he was the most intimidating fast bowler of his generation.