Richard Johnson, the former England seamer who quit Middlesex to join Somerset in 2001, is on his way back to Lord’s after agreeing a two-year deal
Cricinfo staff03-Nov-2006
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Richard Johnson, the former England seamer who quit Middlesex to join Somerset in 2001, is on his way back to Lord’s after agreeing a two-year deal.Johnson’s move will surprise many as earlier this week he told a local newspaper in Taunton that he wanted to stay at Somerset. His contract expired at the end of the summer and he had been linked with a possible move to Kent.Johnson, who was born in Chertsey and played his early club cricket for Sunbury in Middlesex, made his county debut in 1992. In 89 first-class appearances over the next nine seasons he took 273 wickets, including 10 for 45 against Derbyshire in 1994, the first Englishman to take all ten in a first-class innings for 30 years. In six seasons at Somerset he took 227 wickets in 66 first-class outings.His England ambitions were cut short by injuries just as he broke into the side in 2003, and that has very much been the story of his career as a whole. He was also picked to tour South Africa in 1994-95 but had to withdraw after suffering back problems and he only played in half of Somerset’s Championship matches in 2006.Johnson is the latest close-season signing by Middlesex as they attempt to rebuild after a dismal season in 2006. They have already signed Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas and India’s Murali Kartik.
