Balls and wickets are the two resources in an innings in limited-overs cricket. It is not every day that one person shaves 20 percent off the first resource and 30 percent of the second while allowing the batting side to score nothing.

Yesterday at the Kia Oval, Spencer Johnson did exactly that on his Men’s Hundred debut, for the Oval Invincibles against the Manchester Originals. He claimed 20-1-3 (or, in the traditional format, 4-3-1-3 if the five-ball sets count as overs).

It was not merely Johnson’s debut in the tournament, or in English cricket: it was also his first visit to the UK. He will turn 28 this December. He was virtually an unknown until 2022.

Nothing in his career to that point matches the profile of a future prospect for Australia, who have won the last World Test Championship, and the one before the most recent global tournament in each of the shorter formats.

Born in Adelaide, Johnson was identified in age-group cricket, and played for both the Under-19s and the Under-23s for South Australia. He did play 50-over matches for the state side, but until the 2022/23 season his career numbers stood at 23-0-162-3 from three matches.

Part of that had to do with a stress fracture of the foot (“it was just such a rare bone to get a stress fracture in: there was no evidence that [surgery] would work but after 12 months of it not healing, it was the only option to try and put in a couple of screws”).

There was no indication of what was to follow. The Adelaide Strikers did pick him in 2020/21, but he did not get a match. That BBL debut finally came in 2022/23, for Brisbane Heat. It took him two balls to impress Brett Lee and Isa Guha. “Oh, that’s a very good action, I like this, I’m super impressed by the first two deliveries,” said Lee. As one of Australia’s fastest ever bowlers, he’s well placed to judge.

When the cricket fraternity Googled with his name that day, the first entry was invariably of a namesake who wrote self-help books. By the time the BBL got over, the cricketer had moved to the top.

If his season average 31.33 did not impress, his economy of 7.55 certainly did. But perhaps more importantly, he was what every side wanted: a left-arm bowler of serious pace.

Of the 120 fast bowlers to have taken a hundred Test wickets, only 16 have been southpaws. The number reads 13 out of 115 in ODIs. They are prime property even if they lack experience or are past 27.

The BBL catapulted Johnson into stardom. Just over a month later, he earned a Marsh Cup comeback, then made his first-class debut. There, he claimed 6-87 in the second innings. A week later, he improved on that with 2-41 and 7-47 against Queensland.

Picked for Australia A, he claimed 4-53 against New Zealand A in Lincoln – his first ‘professional’ match outside Australia across the three formats.

Johnson’s BBL burst and Sheffield Shield success came too late for Australia’s six-Test English summer, especially with Mitchell Starc – Australia’s eventual Player of the Series – already in the squad. He had also missed the IPL bus.

But it enabled him to have stints with the Los Angeles Knight Riders in the Major League Cricket in the USA, and for the Surrey Jaguars in the Global League T20 in Canada.

When an injury prompted Ihsanullah to withdraw from The Hundred, the Oval Invincibles stuck to the pace-is-pace-yaar mantra and found a comparably fast replacement in Johnson.

Words of encouragement came from compatriot and Invincibles coach Tom Moody: “You’re going to love it here – it’s similar to the Gabba.” A huge boost came when Australia included him for the T20Is in South Africa earlier this week.

At the Kia Oval, Johnson had a reasonable cushion after the Invincibles had piled 186-5. Cheering for him was the local crowd. At the other end was Gus Atkinson, two years younger but perhaps as quick, and – just like Johnson – uncapped.

And he delivered. The international cap may not be long away. However, he is unlikely to feature at the World Cup, having not been named in Australia’s preliminary squad.

Is it too late for a Test cap? For inspiration, he need not look further than Ryan Harris, the only fast bowler to take a hundred Test wickets despite debuting after thirty. Like Johnson, Harris had started off at South Australia, but it was at the Brisbane that he had first got noticed.

Wherever his career ends up, prepare to hear a lot more about Spencer Johnson.