Why Starc’s twilight years put him among Australia’s greatest

More than a decade ago, Mitchell Starc sat alongside legendary paceman Jeff Thomson at a sportsman’s lunch and tossed his hard-earned into the day’s silent auction for a treasured piece of memorabilia.

Now as he enters the upper echelons of Australian history as one of its longest-serving fast bowlers, the prized piece – a framed print honouring the select few to have taken 400-plus Test wickets – needs some updating.

Mitchell Starc plans to play up to and beyond his 35th birthday.Credit: Getty

Starc will turn 35 in January after this summer’s mouth-watering five-Test series against India and, all things being equal, will push toward the fabled 400 barrier and 100 Tests in the next 12 months.

“We’ll see how we go,” Starc laughed when it was pointed out that his name will likely end up on his own office wall among Test cricket’s most dangerous bowlers.

“It’s very humbling. You see the numbers, but it’s never been a real motivator for me ... It’s nice to have played a part for as long as I have and hopefully, there’s a few more Test matches in me yet.”

Only pace icons Glenn McGrath and Dennis Lillee – whose 355 Test scalps Starc moved past during the March tour of New Zealand – have pushed so far into their 30s with as many wickets as Australia’s evergreen left-armer.

While McGrath played until the age of 36 and Lillee 34, Ray Lindwall’s war-interrupted career saw him tour India at 38, Peter Siddle also bowled on until 34. Thomson, too, turned out for the 1985 Ashes at 35 when Australia had been decimated by the rebel tours of South Africa.

Few have enjoyed the same spoils as Starc in his “twilight years” though. Since the end of the 2019 Ashes when he was last in and out of the side, Starc has been a constant in Australia’s attack and one of the world’s most consistent bowlers.

Only Ravichandran Ashwin (174), Nathan Lyon (167) and Pat Cummins (146) have taken more wickets than Starc’s 143 over the past five years.

His decision to sacrifice $10 million or so in potential IPL earnings to concentrate on international cricket has been well documented, yet hasn’t dulled his status as one of Australia’s best-ever white ball bowlers.

Starc doesn’t see himself emulating English icon Jimmy Anderson – who only retired recently aged 42 – or playing limited-overs cricket to the end.

But nor has he picked an end date, with a Champions Trophy and home Ashes series looming in the next 18 months.

“I’ve been very lucky to play three formats for a very long time,” Starc said as he launched Amazon Prime’s free same-day delivery service in Sydney.

Mitchell Starc celebrates his first Test wicket - New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum - in 2011.Credit: AP

“How long that will continue, I’m not sure. The scheduling of three formats is getting harder and harder and finding blocks of time to spend time on my body is going to take away from others.

“Tests are still definitely the pinnacle for me and I think my body will play a part in that decision whenever it gets to it. I’m not someone like Jimmy who played until he was 40-odd and had incredible skills to swing it both ways.

“I’ve never been that bowler and there’s plenty of better bowlers around the country to fill that job.

“I’m really looking forward to this summer and I haven’t put any expiry date on anything just yet.”

Australia have not held the Border-Gavaskar trophy since 2014-15, with India prevailing on their last two tours.

Given the quality of recent clashes between the two nations – including the Test championship and World Cup finals – Starc believes the rivalry has risen to level pegging with the Ashes as the biggest in Australian cricket.

“It’s thrown it right on par with an Ashes series being [expanded to] five Tests,” Starc said. “The Border-Gavaskar doesn’t have that length of history [as the Ashes] but I think the level of competitiveness between both trophies is on par. We’re currently one and two in the Test table so there will be a bit of spice to it.”

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