Neil Clarkson Johnson (born 24 January 1970) is a former Zimbabwean international cricketer who played 13 Test matches and 48 One Day Internationals between 1998 and 2000. An all-rounder, he bowled right-arm fast-medium and played in the middle order in test matches as an aggressive left-handed batsman. He usually opened the batting in one-day cricket. Despite making sporadic appearances for Zimbabwe at international level, he made substantial contributions with both bat and ball in the crucial crunch match situations. He has often bailed out Zimbabwe from precarious situations to match winning positions with this all-round display. In his brief international career, he made an impact as an aggressive opening batsman and also as an attacking fast bowler. He was an integral member of arguably Zimbabwe's best ODI side during the late 1990s. His career was cut short due to internal politics of Zimbabwe cricket. He retired from all forms of cricket in 2004 at the age of 34. Domestic career Johnson was born in Salisbury – now Harare. Throughout his first-class career he spent time in both South Africa and England, playing for Boland, Eastern Province, Natal, Western Province, Leicestershire and Hampshire. He played most of his first-class cricket in South Africa. Despite having lot of experience having played in South African domestic competition, he was never really in the contention to make into the South African national cricket team in the 1990s due to the abundance of all-rounders in the South African set-up. His county stint with Leicestershire in 1997 proved his worth as a capable all-rounder and was largely unknown in cricketing circles until making his county debut. Early years His father was a farmer in the Umvukwes – now Mvurwi district in the north of Mashonaland. He pursued his primary education initially at the Umvukwes Primary School, a school where he rose to prominence at the tender age of seven after winning a selection for the school's colts’ team in the under 11 age category. During when Zimbabwe gained its independence from Great Britain in 1980, his father was offered a job as a farming consultant at Howick in Natal which his father accepted. South Africa Neil along with his family members emigrated to South Arica when he was just ten years old. He then pursued his primary education at Howick High and rose through the ranks as a young schoolboy cricketer firstly with the Natal Under