Trent Johnston

Trent Johnston

Personal information
Full name	David Trent Johnston
Born	29 April 1974 (1974-04-29) Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Batting style	Right-hand
Bowling style	Right-arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder
International information
National side	Ireland
ODI debut (cap 4)	13 June 2006 v England
Last ODI	18 March 2011 v Netherlands
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2004–2009	Ireland
1998–2000	New South Wales
Career statistics
Competition	ODI	T20I	FC	LA
Matches	55	16	27	87
Runs scored	646	89	646	1020
Batting average	19.37	9.88	23.92	18.88
100s/50s	0/0	0/0	0/6	0/2
Top score	45*	18	71	67
Balls bowled	2,440	318	3,686	3,888
Wickets	55	20	88	92
Bowling average	32.12	16.75	20.09	31.20
5 wickets in innings	1	0	3	2
10 wickets in match	n/a	n/a	0	n/a
Best bowling	5/14	4/22	6/23	5/14
Catches/stumpings	22/–	1/–	18/–	36/–
Source: CricketArchive, 29 Jul 2011

David Trent Johnston usually known as Trent Johnston (born 29 April 1974 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian-born Irish cricketer. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, he had played for the Ireland cricket team 49 times as of 18 April 2007 and has continued to represent them since that date, playing in five Friends Provident Trophy matches in 2007 at the time of writing. He currently plays for the Railway Union Cricket Club. He played first-class and List A cricket for New South Wales earlier in his career. In October 2007 he published a book "Raiders of the Caribbean" (co-authored with Gerard Siggins) with The O'Brien Press which tells the story of Ireland's remarkable performances in the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Playing career

New South Wales

Johnston made his first-class debut for New South Wales in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania in March 1999. He played his only List A match for them in October that year, against Queensland. He played four Pura Cup matches for them in 2000 before his career took him to Ireland.

Ireland

Johnston first played club cricket in Ireland in 1995 and returned for four more seasons, meeting his wife Vanessa, with whom he now has two children. He continued playing Sydney Grade Cricket for North Sydney Cricket Club, but qualified for an Irish passport and then-coach Adrian Birrell decided he might be a useful addition to the Irish side.

He made his debut for Ireland on 5 May 2004 against Surrey in a C & G Trophy match that Ireland won, only their second win against a first-class county. He also played in the next match of the competition against Northamptonshire.

His next appearances for Ireland were two matches against the West Indies in June, the second of which Ireland won. He then played against the MCC later that month, before making his first-class debut for Ireland against the Netherlands in the Intercontinental Cup. This was followed by the 2004 European Championship and a first-class match against Scotland.

The main action in 2005 was the 2005 ICC Trophy, hosted in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Johnston was in the Irish squad and they reached the final, losing to Scotland, but still qualifying for the 2007 World Cup. He was made Irish captain in time for the semi-final of the 2005 Intercontinental Cup against the UAE in Windhoek, Namibia. The match was drawn, but Ireland qualified for the final on bonus points. Ireland faced Kenya in the final, winning by six wickets.

The following year started with several matches against English county sides before captaining Ireland in their first ever One Day International against England. He also played in the European Championship that year, which included ODIs against Scotland and the Netherlands. He also played in two Intercontinental Cup matches, against Namibia and Scotland.

Johnston remained Irish captain for the World Cricket League Division One tournament in Kenya in January/February 2007 and for the World Cup, playing an Intercontinental Cup match against the UAE in between the two events.

The World Cup provided Johnston with some of the high points in his cricket career, leading his team to a thrilling tie against Zimbabwe and hitting the winning runs against Pakistan to record one of the biggest upsets in cricket history. He also captained Ireland to a win over Bangladesh in the Super Eight stage of the tournament as Ireland finished eighth in the tournament.

He has remained captain of the Ireland side for their Friends Provident Trophy campaign in 2007 and took a hat-trick against Gloucestershire on 10 May 2007 which was only the second hat-trick for Ireland, the only previous one coming in August 1877 against I Zingari.

Johnston (left) fielding against Pakistan during the 2009 T20 World Cup

He won his 100th cap in the Aug 2009 ODI loss to England, when he was named Man of the Match, for 20 not out & bowling figures of 10-2-26-4.

Johnston was one of seven Ireland players to be nominated for the 2009 Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year (there were fourteen nominees in all), although he did not make the 4-man short-list. In 2010, Johnston was again nominated for the Associate and Affiliate Player of the Year Award, this time alongside two other Ireland players (there were 16 nominees in all); the award was given to Ryan ten Doeschate of the Netherlands.

2011 World Cup

Johnston was selected in Ireland's 15-man squad for the 2011 World Cup. During Ireland's 3 wicket win against England on 2 March Johnston took his 50th ODI wicket when he bowled Michael Yardy and in the process became the first Irish bowler to do so.