Painful blow in Johnson, Hales duel
Cricket’s new $1.78m paceman Spencer Johnson offered a smile and a “sorry mate” when he crushed the manhood of Sydney Thunder batsman Alex Hales with a Gabba thunderbolt.
Sections of the Brisbane Heat’s biggest crowd for nearly four years winced in pain as Hales was hit middle peg in Johnson’s opening over on Wednesday night.
The English opener buckled and slumped to the pitch knowing all any medico could do was count to two or watch him take some deep breaths until the pain subsided.
Those watching the BBL match on Fox Sports picked up a wry smile from Johnson when he hovered over Hales’ prone body for a moment to check his wellbeing.
“Alex and I were teammates only a few months ago playing for Surrey Jaguars in the Global T20 Canada so I was concerned. I said ‘sorry mate’,” Johnson explained. “The reasoned I smiled was Alex’s comeback ... ‘no you’re not’.”
The Johnson v Hales duel for two overs was riveting theatre within another strong Heat win by 15 runs. The crowd of 29,155 could see for themselves the Heat have batting, spin and pace trumps and killer confidence right now.
Johnson’s pace and bounce had Hales struggling in the opening over when all he could squeeze off the opening five balls was an inside edge into his pads for a streaky single. A pirouette hook for six was Hales’ response in his next over before more dot balls.
Johnson (2/24) impressed in the Heat’s fightback with the ball when a 7-16 batting collapse had left the Brisbane side (172) about 20 runs short of the total they were tracking for.
“What’s scary is we haven’t put together a complete game yet but we are still finding ways to win. We know we should have made more of our start with the bat,” he said.
The fast bowler, who the Gujarat Titans turned into a very rich man just over a week ago with their bid in the IPL auction, said he felt no extra pressure returning to the Gabba and playing under a seven-figure price tag.
“I am still trying to process the IPL thing,” he said. “That’s in the future. The Heat has a lot more to show first.”