Hussey remembers shy guy Johnson

Australian batting great Mike Hussey was there the day a young Mitchell Johnson took his first tentative steps into the big time in the summer of 2001-02.

Full Story: Johnson calls time on international career

Having come to Brisbane from Townsville and turned heads with his slingy action and sheer pace, Johnson debuted for Queensland against Western Australia and Hussey immediately identified the raw talent.

"It was here at the WACA, and we'd heard a lot about him, heard about this new guy who was lightning fast," Hussey told cricket.com.au. 

"But the thing that really stood out to me was his athletic ability; the way he moved across the field, obviously the natural pace with the ball, but even the way he threw a ball, hit a ball.

"I just thought, 'Wow, this guy's got some serious ability'.

"But that's only one part of the game. There's also the mental side of the game.

"He went through a lot of ups and downs through his career, and the sign of his great character was that he kept coming back – one, from his bad back injury when he was a youngster, and two, when he went through form and confidence issues.

"So to be able to come back and finish on his own terms is a real credit to his character." 

WATCH: Fire-breathing Johnson's wicket-taking finale

Hussey’s path to the national team was vastly different to Johnson’s but the pair went from opponents to teammates when the latter debuted in Baggy Green against Sri Lanka in November 2007.

The 79-Test veteran remembers a reticent character but one who was immediately liked by his new colleagues.  

"He was really shy. He's shy away from the game generally and doesn't seek the limelight," Hussey said. "Very much a team player, and the sort of guy who, when he came into the Australian team, I really wanted to see do well, because he was a great bloke with a lot of talent, and those ingredients just made you want him to have success, and you wanted to play with him and for him."

The extreme highs and lows that Johnson experienced through the 2009 and 2013-14 Ashes series pegged him as a player whose performances could fluctuate wildly.

His unorthodox action was a factor behind that, but so too was self-belief and faith from others.

When all three were present, it was the perfect storm.   

"He was a huge confidence player, and he had a few series there where once that confidence was up, he was just unstoppable," Hussey said.

"Once his confidence was up, he would just knock over anyone in the world – didn't matter who they were.

"As the years have worn on, talking to some of the South Africans – Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers – and some of the English guys, they hold Mitch in the highest echelon of fast bowlers.

"I can honestly tell you there'll be a lot of very happy and relieved batsmen all over the world that he's retired, because he's been frightening over the years, he really has." 

WATCH: Johnson rips apart South Africa

Johnson's armoury also extended well beyond the fear factor, as South Africa learned the hard way during the summer of 2008-09.

Across six Tests home and away that summer, the left-armer took 33 wickets courtesy of a clever combination of his regularly hostile lengths and fuller, swinging deliveries.

"I remember he got 8-61 here in Perth on a very flat batting pitch, and the thing was, he just angled the ball across the right-hander and got a whole lot of nicks," Hussey recalled.

"So we got to South Africa, and they were preparing for the same thing – with him just angling it across they were going to leave a lot more balls because they saw him as such a huge threat.

"But that's when he started to get the ball swinging back into the right-handers.

"It really shocked the South Africans and they knew they were in for a lot of trouble; someone bowling at that pace and being able to swing the ball back in, in those conditions, was just unplayable.

"And there were some frightening spells in there as well.

"One game in Durban he hit Jacques Kallis in the jaw and sent him off, and he broke Graeme Smith's hand.

"I vividly remember a lot of that series and thank goodness he was on our team and not theirs.

"It's really exciting to be out there (when that's happening).

"You can feel the crowd get right into it, you know there's a lot of fear in the batsman's eyes, and you know that things are going to happen; that was the other thing when Mitch was bowling – something would always be happening."