Why Australia is gambling on Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc went for 11 runs in his opening over of the T20 World Cup. He’s a gamble Shane Warne doesn’t think Australia should be taking.

There’s a chance of two things with Mitchell Starc, boundaries or the ball of the century

Nuts. Peaches. Aggets. Jaffers. Absolute beauties.

A while ago now, when Covid-19 closed play, ESPN’s Cricket Monthly nominated their deliveries of the century. They probably went off 80 years too early, but it was interesting reading nonetheless.

Top spot was given to Ryan Harris’s figure-eight missile to Englishman Alastair Cook at the WACA Ground in 2013. The one that swung in, seamed further in, swung away after bouncing and then crashed into captain Cook’s stumps like a bowling ball scattering all 10 pins at about 140km/h.

That was a nut, peach, agget, jaffer, absolute beauty. Cook had a medical condition that made him incapable of sweating, but I reckon a single bead of perspiration was running down his forehead when Harris cleaned him up. “Best ball I ever bowled,” Harris said and after 21 years of the century, it would appear no one has dished up anything better.

(But I think ESPN got it wrong with their list. Shane Warne’s ball to Andrew Strauss at Southampton’s Rose Bowl in 2005 should have been number one. I think Warne has bowled the balls of the last two centuries – quite the feat. The Strauss delivery had more work than one of Eddie Charlton’s trick shots. The final over of the day. An Ashes Test. Shane Keith ripped one into the rough outside the left-hander’s woodwork. Strauss tiptoed over to cover it with his pads. The ball speared behind his legs and struck middle stump. Incredible. Watch the Strauss ball on YouTube, then watch the ball that gave Mike Gatting an early shower and a thousand after-dinner speaking engagements. The Strauss ball is better. When the TV broadcaster measured how far it had spun, the verdict was nine feet.) 

Back to the point of this convoluted yarn. Mitchell Starc. Farther down ESPN’s list, at number 17, was Starc’s rocket to England’s James Vince at the WACA Ground in 2017. Starc went round the wicket. He went wide on the crease. He got a bit Jeff Thomson, delivering it like a slingshot. The ball was angled in, hit a crack and straightened onto the pegs at 143.9km/h. “That is a jaffer,” Warne said in commentary. “That is an absolute beauty.”

All of which came to mind this week when Warne said Starc shouldn’t be taking the first over for Australia at the T20 World Cup. Warne has always been fairly right about Starc. He’s ripped in when there’s ripping to be done. He’s talked him up when praise has been warranted.

When Starc conceded 11 runs in his opening over of Australia’s match against South Africa, Warne said he wasn’t worth the risk at such a tight tournament. It’s an interesting tactical dilemma for the Australians.

You’re a chance for one of two things with Starc and a new white ball. Boundaries or the ball of the century. His first-over yorker to skittle Brendon McCullum in the 2015 World Cup final is seared in the memory bank and set the tone for the victory. So is the Vince delivery. But so is his wild and ruinous 11-ball ODI opening over against India last summer that coughed up eight wides, five no balls, 20 runs and was lucky to finish before midnight.

One of cricket’s finest publications, Warne’s Twitter account, dispatched the following match report after Australia’s tense win over South Africa on Saturday: “I would say a pretty average start by the Aussie boys – but great that they fell over the line, considering they’ve not played any cricket in a while. Stoinis must bat 3 & Pat Cummins or Josh Hazlewood have to take the new ball (1st over to set the tone – not Starc).”

Starc bowled the opening over in this year’s series against Bangladesh and West Indies. Those overs have netted 0/8, 0/9, 1/4, 0/7, 0/6, 0/3 and 0/11. Australia play Sri Lanka at 1am Friday at Dubai International Stadium … and the Sri Lankans have danger written all over them.

They’ve come through qualifying like Emma Raducanu at the U.S. Open. They’ve won their first match of the Super 12 stage. They’ve gotten in the faces of Bangladesh in an incident so heated it revived memories of Dennis Lillee raising his aluminium bat to Javed Miandad. While Australia’s rivalry with Sri Lanka has settled since the good old days of Ian Healy suggesting only a Mars Bar, to be placed on a good length by Warne, could tempt the sweet-toothed Arjuna Ranatunga from his crease, a formidable and combative opponent is still about to present itself to the Australians. Starc has to get it right.

It’s a match that has drama written all over it. Sri Lankan fast bowler Lahiru Kumara made his presence felt in the five-wicket win over Bangladesh. He threw a ball at Mohammad Naim’s head. Made no apologies. Sledged Liton Das so forcefully that Das stood toe-to-toe. The exchanged pleasantries. You’re a bum. You’re a bum! Naim pushed Kumara. Umpires intervened. Sri Lankan players held Kumara back. “Well, well, well – I don’t think I’ve seen that,” Mark Nicholas said in commentary. “That’s not a good look for the game of cricket. It was quite unpleasant.”

It wasn’t a bad look, either. It was quite exciting. Because it showed the mindset of the Sri Lankans and Bangladeshis. They both fancy their chances on surfaces slower than Roland Garros. An intriguing and tense tournament is revealing itself. Every ball counts. Every over. One nut can make the difference.

One peach. One agget. One jaffer. One absolute beauty. One more nomination for ball of the century. Or a discombobulated opening over that goes for 20. As Warne says, Starc has the potential for both.