David Trent Johnston (born 29 April 1974) is an Irish-Australian cricket coach and former player. He was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, and played his early cricket for New South Wales in Australian domestic competitions. A right-handed batsman and right-arm fast-medium bowler, he later moved to Ireland, and made his debut for the Ireland cricket team in 2004. Johnston was subsequently named captain of Ireland, and was a regular fixture in the national team until his retirement in 2013. He coached the Hong Kong national cricket team from 2019 to 2022.
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 opened the bowling with Brett Lee who would make his debut for Australia later that year. Johnston's first wicket was that of Michael Di Venuto; he took one more wicket that day, but after play ended on the second day Johnston suffered a broken arm as the team coach drove off while he was climbing on. 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. New South Wales failed to notify Johnston that his contract had not been renewed and he was instead informed by a team-mate. He returned to club cricket where he represented Campbelltown, North Sydney, and Mosman, captaining the last.
Playing for Ireland
Johnston first played club cricket in Ireland in 1995 and returned for four more seasons, meeting his former wife Vanessa, with whom he had 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. Johnston's 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 for Ireland 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.
Ireland captain
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 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.
In Irish club cricket, he played for the Carlisle Cricket club and Railway Union Cricket Club. 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.