That Christmas lunch and the quick stuff!

David Johnsonrsquos most famous Test wicket was Michael Slater in the second innings of the inaugural BorderGavaskar Test match at New Delhi in 1996 The opener 0 edged a wide one to Mohammed Azharuddin at first slip for Johnson to claim the first of 10 Australian wickets to fall in their sevenwicket lossLater that year Johnson sent back Herschelle Gibbs 0 and Brian McMillan 34 in the Durban Test of the 199697 series McMillanrsquos was a big wicket because he was doing a repair job and Sachin Tendulkarrsquos India knew the kind of damage he could inflict Whether Hansie Cronjersquos South Africa were truly rattled only they would know but Johnsonrsquos death did rattle the world on ThursdayFatal fallJohnson according to a PTI report fell off the balcony of his fourth floor apartment in Bangalore on Thursday morning McMillan who was trapped leg before by Johnson in that December 2630 Kingsmead Test was greatly saddened to learn about Johnsonrsquos death at 52 The burly South African allrounder didnrsquot quite remember the dismissal but recalled Johnson being ldquoas quick as anyonerdquo in DurbanAlso ReadWhy Sandeep Patil wonrsquot contest MCA prez electionSouth Africarsquos Brian McMillanHe also did not forget to remember Johnson attending a Christmas lunch and mingling with his South African team in Durban ldquoHe was pretty quietmdashnot like lsquoMusclesrsquo Venkatapathy Raju and the rest of the clan He was very polite and humble I knew he is a Christian and it was wonderful to have him at our Christmas lunch I didnrsquot realise that there could be Christians in India as well so it was an eye opener for merdquo McMillan 60 told midday from Cape Town McMillan was gutted to hear that Johnson leaves behind his wife and two kids ldquoFiftytwo is far too young to move onrdquo he remarkedlsquoNo one heard his criesrsquoNews reports said the police were investigating if Johnson decided his own fate ldquoI donrsquot know what the stress and strains were Maybe it was a money thing This is terrible news Itrsquos sad that no one heard his criesmdashas simple as that Meanwhile Sandeep Patil who accompanied Johnson on two ODI tours with the Indian team Sri Lanka and Canada in 1996 remembered Johnson as a ldquobubbly character who had fire in his bowling but didnrsquot get a chance to play on those toursrdquoJohnson claimed 125 wickets in 39 firstclass games Sachin Tendulkar his captain in both his Tests said on X ldquoDeeply saddened by the passing of my former teammate David Johnson He was full of life and never gave up on the field My thoughts are with his friends and familyrdquoX talkVenkatesh Prasadvenkateshprasad Shocked and sad to hear about the passing away of David Johnson Heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones Om ShantiAnil Kumbleanilkumble1074 Saddened to hear the passing of my cricketing colleague David Johnson Heartfelt condolences to his family Gone too soon lsquoBennyrsquoGautam GambhirGautamGambhir Saddened by the passing away of David Johnson May god give strength to his family and loved onesJay Shah BCCI secretaryJayShah Deepest condolences to family and friends of our former Indian fast bowler David Johnson His contributions to the game will always be rememberedVirender Sehwagvirendersehwag Very sad to hear about David Johnsonrsquos passing Condolences to his familyMayank Agarwalmayankcricket Anguished by the passing away of David Johnson who contributed greatly to Karnataka cricket May God give strength to his family and loved ones Om Shanti