From 'body double' to axing, Johnson's push for Test cap

After the most productive pre-season of an injury-cursed career and a stint in Queensland's club T20 competition where he caught the eye of the world's top-ranked Test batter, Spencer Johnson returned home to Adelaide to learn he couldn't crack South Australia's second XI.

Five months later, Johnson has vaulted into contention for a wildcard call-up to the Ashes squad having been named in an Australia A touring party purpose-picked to gauge performances in the England-like conditions of South Island New Zealand.

To surge from the periphery of domestic cricket to the cusp of a Test cap in a comparative blink might set a less-level head spinning.

But as a self-acknowledged "pretty relaxed guy" – a demeanour sharply at odds with a 193cm fast bowler who flings a ball at up to 150kph – Johnson maintains perspective born from a decade strewn with disappointments.

Image Id: EF5B0A77B4B24672A49E0712447289C4 Image Caption: Johnson after receiving his Redbacks cap on first-class debut // Getty

"My career has definitely been a unique journey," the languid left-armer told cricket.com.au this week having snared 15 wickets (at 13.06) in his first two Marsh Sheffield Shield appearances.

"It's been building for six or seven years to get where I am now, and to get my body ready for four-day cricket and hopefully for higher honours.

"I don't feel like I've changed.

"I still go about training and preparation as I normally would, although the (South Australia) boys would tell you that my head has grown.

"I'm just trying to stay as level as I can, and just keep focused on what's in front of me.

"I know that if I go to New Zealand and take a few wickets, there's perhaps a chance an Ashes squad could be waiting."

Given the depth of Australia's pace bowling stocks, and even allowing for the brutal craft's rate of attrition, it seems outrageous a novice in his rookie season could be considered alongside fellow hopefuls the calibre of Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson, Lance Morris and even Mark Steketee.

But 27-year-old Johnson's point of difference – genuine pace, coupled with bounce extracted by his imposing height and swing generated by his smooth action – earns him some queue-jumping points as a potential like-for-like understudy to incumbent left-armer, Mitchell Starc.

And with this year's UK sojourn looming as a gruelling schedule of six Tests (including the one-off World Test Championship final) inside eight weeks, the management of fast-bowling stocks will provide a crucial sub-plot.

Furthermore, Johnson can already claim to have filled Starc's sizeable shoes when bowling in the most oppressive conditions either has encountered.

The South Australian was barely out of secondary school when enlisted as 'body double' for Starc who was filming a television commercial on lunar-like salt plains in outback Western Australia, offering the star struck youngster a first-hand look at his fast-bowling idol.

"I wasn't a kid when Mitch Starc started playing for Australia, but watching him I've always admired his athleticism and everything he does," Johnson says.

"In this ad, he was supposed to be bowling to himself, so when he was batting or when he was fielding and standing in different spots, that's where I came in.

"I'm obviously not in focus and you can't tell it's me, but it gave me a chance to see him close up and I got to film a bit of his action while he was bowling on those salt plains.

Image Id: 2B2FA391C28A40D6BB950973840AAE45 Image Caption: Johnson took seven wickets against Queensland in his second Sheffield Shield match // Getty

"I've still got some of those photos on my phone.

"I don't know if he'd remember it, but I definitely do."

Not surprisingly given his pedigree, sporting moments account for many of his other boyhood memories.

Johnson's father, Greg, was a premiership footballer at South Broken Hill before joining the South Australian National Football League with West Adelaide, the club that Spencer's siblings Oliver (older) and Isaac (younger) also represented at senior level.

Like many a schoolboy, Johnson excelled at both sports and the one and only century of his career to date is the 100-plus goals he kicked as a long-leading, strong-marking full forward for Flinders Park under-18s in SA's amateur league.

But when his obvious talent as a pace bowler earned him selection in the state under-19 team for the 2013-14 national championships in Hobart, his sporting priorities narrowed.

"Cricket probably chose me, to be honest," Johnson says.

"Getting picked in the state under-19s, you have to stop playing footy and focus on one, and I'm glad I did.

"I played a couple of years of under-19s (for SA) and then had a good year as a 20-year-old with West Torrens (in Adelaide Premier Cricket) so got rewarded with a SACA rookie deal at 21."

While football was the family sporting trade, cricket was more than merely a summer supplement and an impromptu dash to Adelaide Oval for the climax of a one-day game between SA and Queensland in late 2006 remains vivid in Johnson's mind.

Sensing a thrilling finish loomed, Greg Johnson bundled his boys in the car and headed to the ground in time for them to see Ryan Harris – then playing for the Redbacks – belt Bulls spinner Lachie Stevens for six from the match's final ball to clinch a famous win.

But after playing at successive national under-19 carnivals against future Test-capped contemporaries Matthew Renshaw, Matt Kuhnemann and Jhye Richardson, Johnson's progress stalled.

Having earned a first-grade Premier Cricket debut with West Torrens aged 17, more than three years passed before he bagged his maiden five-wicket haul in a 50-over grand final win over Glenelg.

That was instrumental in landing the then 21-year-old the first of three consecutive rookie contracts with SA, and a one-day cup debut against Victoria at North Sydney Oval at the start of the 2017-18 summer.

Image Id: 98CD5E73DE0E4E0A82A596F10646B1F5 Image Caption: Johnson appeals during his second match for South Australia in 2021 // Getty

However, that celebratory day turned sour when the 'click' he felt in his ankle while fielding was later revealed to be a stress fracture in the talus bone at the top of the joint, an injury seen more often in footballers and track athletes than cricketers.

It ended up costing Johnson three seasons of cricket, two of them spent undergoing abortive rehabilitation programs and a third when the screws inserted to try and resolve the problem themselves became the issue when they were rejected by his body.

Without an SA contract after the 2019-20 season and unsure if his body would allow him to deliver on his adolescent promise, Johnson returned to Premier Cricket ranks and slowly began building his fast-bowling CV.

Seven first-grade matches in the pandemic affected summer of 2020-21 yielded 22 wickets at 20.05 (including a career-best 6-77) followed by 29 at 16.9 from 11 outings a season later, when Johnson was pivotal in West Torrens securing the SACA's red-ball and 50-over titles.

In both those seasons he had been part of the Adelaide Strikers' BBL squad, but did not see any game time and at the conclusion of BBL|11 he gained some frank feedback from the SA brains trust.

"As a youngster, I guess I did have natural talent and all the attributes – left-arm, tall, fast and I think that got me through to a certain level," Johnson says, readjusting his training cap to run a hand through his thicket of honey-blonde hair.

"And then once you start playing against the big boys, everyone starts sort of catching up.

"I did get challenged by 'Dizzy' (SA coach Jason Gillespie) and (SACA talent manager) Shaun Williams during Big Bash last year, when they thought I wasn't quite using my full potential.

"They were quite honest with me, and said 'we need to see more from you'.

"That was quite a scary time because I didn't have a Redbacks contract and wasn't quite sure which way my career was going to go.

"They sort of gave me the last three months of the year to show I wanted to be here."

Johnson felt he met that challenge with performances at second XI and Premier level including the dual premierships with West Torrens, but admits to feeling uneasy in the summer's immediate aftermath as contracts for 2022-23 were finalised and no news was forthcoming.

Then, having taken up a two-week contract to work on the redevelopment of Adelaide Oval's indoor nets, Johnson received a text message from Williams sat in his upstairs office at the same facility inviting the fast bowler in for a chat.

Upon climbing the steps to the mezzanine level, he found his first full SACA contract waiting on Williams' desk.

 

"I was lucky enough to get the last one, and I couldn't sign it quick enough," Johnson says, smiling broadly.

"I guess it was a bit of a relief, but I also felt it was time to get back to work and I think I said to Rowdy (Williams) 'let's go, this is it'.

"Signing a one-year contract means you've really got to get stuck in and have a crack."

Johnson threw himself into a demanding pre-season program and – at the behest of former West Torrens player and Queensland Premier Cricket stalwart, Leigh Drennan – signed with Redlands in Brisbane's inaugural T20 Max tournament last September.

Johnson's white-ball skills impressed his Redlands teammate Marnus Labuschagne and, with Brisbane Heat making available two berths on their playing roster for players who impressed in the T20 Max matches, the stint also resulted in a two-year deal in teal.

He flew back to Adelaide holding high hopes of inclusion in the Redbacks starting line-up for the Marsh One-Day Cup season opener against Queensland, and maybe even the first Sheffield Shield fixture against Victoria in Adelaide 10 days later.

But upon missing both those teams, he was set back further on his heels to learn he hadn't made SA's second XI with fellow quicks Brendan Doggett, Nick Winter, David Grant and Henry Thornton plus seam-bowling allrounder Liam Scott preferred.

 

"It was a bit of a unique situation where there was a Shield game going at the same time a second XI match was happening, and all our quicks were fit at the start of the season," Johnson says, noting the Shield attack comprised Wes Agar, Harry Conway, David Grant and Jordan Buckingham.

"I thought I might have been a chance to be in the Shield team, but then missed out on that and wasn't in the second XI squad so it was quite a disappointing time.

"I felt like I'd had enough performances in pre-season games then going up to Queensland, and had bowled well enough to get a second XI spot.

"But nothing you say is going to change it, that can only come from your actions.

"So I started the season thinking 'I'm a long way off it', to now finishing the year taking the new ball in the Shield and getting ready for an Aussie A series.

"It just shows how things can change quite quickly."

True to his "pretty relaxed" demeanour, Johnson didn't take issue with his non-selection and, when Doggett regained his place in SA's Shield line-up, the left-armer was included for the Toyota Second XI game against Victoria where he claimed the first four second innings wickets to fall.

 

That performance led into his maiden BBL campaign where his evolution as a 'death overs' bowler plus the highest ratio of dot balls among all the Brisbane Heat bowlers in the regular season was integral in their audacious run to the final.

His streamlined action and capacity to push 150kph earned accolades from former Test speedster Brett Lee who – along with barrel-chested opener Matthew Hayden – was Johnson's boyhood cricket idol.

Within weeks, Johnson had won a recall to SA's one-day team for the first time since 2021 then a first-class debut that netted him 6-87 (against Victoria) and 7-47 (Queensland) in consecutive innings over recent weeks.

In the competition's 130-year history, only former Test bowlers Jack Ryder (20 wickets at 10.8) and Chuck Fleetwood-Smith (19 at 11.53) can claim more scalps at a lower average than Johnson's 15 at 13.07 in the first two outings of a Shield career.

"I remember that first BBL game against the (Perth) Scorchers, Brett Lee was saying some pretty cool stuff like 'wow, where's he been?' but for me, it feels like that's what I've been doing my whole career," Johnson says.

"I just haven't been able to get on the park for long enough, and string enough games together.

"This is my third year in a row, touch wood, without being injured and there's always been that self-belief that it would happen, it was just a matter of doing it.

"I definitely feel like there's more good days than bad days at the minute.

"Sometimes you feel like you're fighting your rhythm, whereas now it feels like it's coming quite naturally.

"I just sort of stayed at the same level for three or four years before I got back to playing again, and then started building to where I am now.

"Hopefully I can continue to get better and play for Australia, that's definitely the goal."

The next step of that journey, one that seemed risible five months ago, will be taken on the verdant playing fields of Lincoln (near Christchurch) in autumnal April.

The pair of four-day matches against New Zealand A will not only bring Johnson's first cricket-playing experience beyond Australia, they'll also introduce him to bowling with the England-made Dukes ball in match conditions.

In addition to providing pathway opportunities for some of the nation's promising talents, the A tour has been designed to notionally replicate playing conditions of the UK where Australia's men's team has not won a Test series since 2001.

Johnson considers his ability to swing the new ball at pace his most potent weapon, but concedes that – despite being charged with responsibility for choosing which ball SA will use at the start of each bowling innings – he hasn't found much movement with the Kookaburra version this summer.

"I think my pace is up this year compared to previous years, so they might be cancelling each other out," Johnson says in searching to explain the absence of swing.

"Normally I get nice shape, and hopefully the Dukes shapes in New Zealand where the conditions should be bowler friendly.

"When it was brought into Shield cricket (in 2016-17) I wasn't playing, I was injured, so I didn't get to bowl with it in a game situation.

"To get a chance with that is a bit exciting."

While earning an Australia A cap might be the closest one can come to national selection without technically gaining it, Johnson's unexpected call-up might coincidentally cost him a genuine chance to play international cricket.

By dint of his maternal grandfather's heritage, Johnson is a dual citizen who also holds an Italian passport which would have allowed him to represent Italy at this year's Europe qualifying tournament for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

 

Johnson and SA teammate Ben Manenti had agreed to play for the Azzurri at the seven-team qualifier to be held in Edinburgh from July 20-28, where Scotland and Ireland are favoured to win through to the next World Cup being jointly staged in the Caribbean and USA.

Italy captain-coach (and long-time UK county all-rounder) Gareth Berg had secured a commitment from Johnson and Manenti to spearhead their ambitious campaign, and hoped ex-Test opener Joe Burns might also use his maternal links to get on board.

But Johnson's elevation to what is effectively Australia's second XI, and the resultant reality he might be in selectors' thinking for a place in this year's Ashes squad, means he's now eyeing a winter tinged in green and gold rather than Italy's sporting blue.

While his Italian passport will no longer grant him automatic eligibility for county contracts in post-Brexit Britain, Johnson is contemplating a stint somewhere in the UK this year to be in close proximity should selection chair George Bailey find himself in urgent need of replacement players.

"The plan was to go and play for Italy in Scotland, but I think that's getting re-shaped now," Johnson says.

"I was definitely all for it around Big Bash time when we were playing T20s, but I guess red ball is front of mind now.

"The whole idea was to try and play some international cricket, and get some experience at that level.

 

"Playing against Scotland and Ireland, they're two pretty good countries but now the Aussie A series is in there, it (Australia selection) is starting to feel a little bit more real.

"And if there was an opportunity to play some county cricket, body-wise I'm feeling good so I'd definitely take it.

"A few performances over there can only help, then ideally get another phone call from George (Bailey) in a couple of weeks' time, or whenever it is."