Mitchell Aaron Starc
Mitchell Aaron Starc (born 30 January 1990) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket. A left-arm fast bowler and a lower order left-handed batsman, Starc represents Australia in all three main formats of international cricket: Test cricket, One Day Internationals (ODI), and Twenty20 Internationals. He is regarded as one of the best limited overs bowlers of all time and in 2015 was the highest-rated bowler in ODI cricket.
Starc began playing international cricket in 2010, but the early part of his career was disrupted by persistent injuries. He came to worldwide attention as a prominent member of the Australian squad that won the 2015 Cricket World Cup, and was declared Player of the Tournament as a result of his consistent performances throughout the matches. He is also fastest bowler in the history of ODI cricket to reach 200 wickets, taking 102 matches to reach the milestone. Starc was also a member of the Australian team that won the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final.
Starc has been noted for his ability to bowl at great pace, with his fastest delivery being measured at over 160.4 km/h (the fastest ever recorded in a Test match), and for generating reverse swing with his bowling. As of December 2022, he is the 7th-highest wicket-taking bowler for Australia in Test cricket.
Early domestic career[edit]
Starc started playing cricket from a young age, at 9 years old for Northern Districts as a wicket keeper. He was a representative cricketer of the Northern Districts Cricket Association and attended Homebush Boys High School, representing the school's 1st grade cricket team. He is also a former junior cricketer for the Berala Sports Cricket Club in Sydney, where he was known to wicket keep and bowl in the same innings.
Starc had a rookie contract with New South Wales for the 2008/09 summer, and in February 2009 was brought into their squad to replace Aaron Bird after Bird was suspended for having an illegal bowling action. He made his first-class debut in New South Wales' final match of the season on 5 March 2009 against Western Australia.The match was drawn and New South Wales finished on the bottom of the ladder for the 2008–09 Sheffield Shield season as a result.
Western Australia approached Starc to recruit him for their team in the 2009/10 season, but he already had a contract with New South Wales and stayed with them instead. In eight Sheffield Shield games through the season, he took 21 wickets, including a best of 5 for 74 against Queensland, and scored a half-century against Victoria. Starc was selected to play for the Australian Institute of Sport in 2010, where his bowling helped the team to win the Emerging Players Twenty20 Trophy over teams from India, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Early international career[edit]
2010–2012[edit]
Due to his impressive performances in the 2010 winter, Starc was chosen as a late replacement in Australia's tour of India in late 2010, replacing the injured Alex Napier. Starc made his international debut on this tour, playing in a One Day International (ODI) against India on 20 October 2010. He did not bat and was wicketless. Starc played his second ODI later in the summer, in the final match of Australia's three-match series against Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had already won the series by winning the first two matches, their first ever series win in Australia. Starc and fellow fast bowler Clint McKay took nine wickets between them in Sri Lanka's innings to set up an eight-wicket win for Australia. The win ended a seven-match losing streak for Australia. Ahead of the 2010–11 Ashes series, Starc was selected to play for Australia A in a warm-up match against England. During a Sheffield Shield match for New South Wales the week before the match, Starc suffered a side-strain injury, ruling him out for four weeks. As a result, he missed the Australia A match and wasn't considered for selection in the Ashes.He was selected again to play for Australia A in the 2011 winter for a tri-series in Zimbabwe.
Starc came into contention for a Test cricket debut in the 2011/12 season. He took two five-wicket hauls against Queensland in November: first in a Sheffield Shield match, then in a one-day match. Despite New South Wales losing both matches, Starc was named the player of the match in the one-day match because of both his bowling performance and strong hitting late in New South Wales' batting innings. He was once again selected to play for Australia A, this time in a warm-up match against New Zealand at the end of November. During this match, he was announced as part of Australia's team for the first Test match against New Zealand to replace the injured Ryan Harris, setting him up to make his Test debut.
Starc made his Test debut for Australia on 1 December 2011, in the first Test of the two-Test series against New Zealand. He was given his baggy green by Richie Benaud and took two wickets in the match.[25] He took another two wickets in the second Test,[26] but he was left out of the team named for the first Test of the subsequent series against India, and was then removed from the squad entirely for the 2012 New Year's Test to make way for Ryan Harris, as Harris had recovered from his injury.[27] While out of the squad he played for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League, and took three wickets in a man-of-the-match performance against the Sydney Thunder.[28] Starc was recalled to Australia's Test squad when James Pattinson was ruled out because of a foot injury,[29] and he played in the third Test on the pace-friendly WACA Ground in place of spinner Nathan Lyon. He excelled in bowling with swing to right-handed batsmen, and among his four wickets he successfully dismissed Sachin Tendulkar leg-before-wicket. He was left out of the team for the final Test match of the series to make way for Lyon's return, and was also removed from Australia's ODI squad to make way for the return of Ryan Harris. This freed him up to play domestic cricket for New South Wales for the rest of the season.
Starc returned to the national squad for their Test series in the West Indies in April 2012. He did not play in the first two Test matches, but was brought into the side for the final match of the series because of injuries to James Pattinson and Peter Siddle. Once the series was finished, Yorkshire County Cricket Club attempted to sign to Starc for the 2012 County Championship to bolster their fast bowling lineup. He was signed for a five-week contract and was set to play in four matches for Yorkshire, starting with a match on May 9. However, upon his arrival in the United Kingdom, Starc was detained and questioned at Heathrow Airport for more than four hours then deported because his visa forms had not been filled out correctly. He had to fly home to Australia then back to England, missing the May 9 match. Starc didn't make his county championship debut for Yorkshire until May 30, a drawn match against Northamptonshire in which he took 5 wickets. Starc was called up again to return to the Australian squad in early July for the final ODI of a series against England, though he did not play in the match, and then he joined Australia A for their subsequent tour of England.
Starc again joined the Australian ODI squad for Australia's series against Afghanistan and Pakistan in August and September 2012. He began the tour in superb form, winning man of the match in Australia's first two matches for taking four wickets against Afghanistan and five wickets against Pakistan in two wins. He did not take any wickets in the 2nd ODI against Pakistan, during which he complained of a side/chest injury, and Australia lost the match. In the final deciding ODI of the series, Starc bounced back and took four wickets. Australia won the series and Starc was named the player of the series because of his nine wickets in Australia's two wins. Then-captain Michael Clarke pointed to Starc's bowling in the series as a standout, saying, "He bowled with good pace. He's such a tall guy and he swung the ball beautifully in conditions where there wasn't much there for the fast bowlers as well."Starc stayed in Australia's squad for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka, where Australia made it to the semi-finals but were knocked out of the tournament by the West Indies.
2012–2013[edit]
Before the start of the 2012/13 summer in Australia, Starc played in the 2012 Champions League Twenty20 for the Sydney Sixers, alongside fellow national team fast bowlers Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood. This created problems for the national team, as the Champions League meant that the three would only have the chance to play one first-class match before the first Test match of the Australian summer, hindering their preparation.This also created the potential problem of the three bowlers having too high of a workload and suffering from injuries, preventing them from being at their fittest when playing for Australia. Australia's bowling coach, Ali de Winter, traveled to South Africa for the tournament to ensure they wouldn't be overexerting themselves. Sixers captain Brad Haddin trusted Starc to bowl the final overs of each game, and Starc was very successful throughout the tournament. He featured prominently in the Sixers' game against his old side Yorkshire, taking three wickets to help restrict Yorkshire to just 96 runs from their twenty overs. He followed this up in a game against the Highveld Lions with another three wickets.The Sixers won the tournament undefeated, and Starc finished as the tournament's leading wicket-taker with 14 wickets, getting him named player of the tournament. Starc's success despite the heavy workload he'd had over the last twelve months impressed de Winter, who said he had proven to be "robust".
Upon his return to Australia, Starc admitted that he had lost seven kilograms due to a gastric complaint during the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and a follow-up illness during the Champions League in South Africa. Starc was in consideration for the first Test match against South Africa, but was ultimately left out of the team in favour of Ben Hilfenhaus.He was named as 12th man for the first two Test matches, and in the meantime played well for New South Wales to push his case for inclusion in the team. He was finally included in the side for the final Test of the series in Perth. Whilst Australia lost the match, Starc took 6/154 and achieved the second fastest Test fifty (32 balls) by an Australian in Australia's second innings on 4 December. Though Australia lost that match, Starc helped bowl Australia to their first win of the summer in the next match against Sri Lanka in Hobart. In the final innings, Starc bowled aggressively with reverse swing and took the final two wickets of the innings to win the match, finishing with figures of 5/63. Despite his recent form, he was rested in favour of Jackson Bird to make his debut for the subsequent Boxing Day Test. The decision to rest Starc for the Boxing Day Test was controversial. Australia's young fast bowlers in recent years had suffered from many stress fractures, which sports scientists attributed to heavy workloads, and with Starc being the only bowler to play for Australia in all three formats (Tests, ODIs, and T20Is) he had a very heavy workload.However, the decision was criticised both because of the significance that playing in the Boxing Test match would have for Starc, and because resting Starc in the middle of a Test series could have consequences for his confidence and form. Former Australian fast bowler Damien Fleming noted that bowlers can't simply be switched on and off like robots.
Starc and Bird would both be selected for the Sydney Test a week later, and Starc remained in the team for the following ODI series against Sri Lanka. During the opening match of the series, Starc experienced calf soreness which forced him to miss the second match. This was the first time an injury had forced Starc to miss a match for Australia. He also played in Australia's ODI series against the West Indies, and he was named player of the match for a devastating 5/20 spell in the 1st ODI, which helped bowl the West Indies out for 70 runs (a total which Australia chased within just 10 overs). During this time, a bone spur was discovered in Starc's ankle. Due to the intense schedule for the Australian team in the upcoming year, Starc chose to forgo surgery to fix the issue which would have taken him out of the side for up to three months. Starc also chose not to submit his name for the 2013 IPL player auction despite the expectation that he would attract a considerable sum of money. He instead opted to take two months to rest between Australia's 2013 tours of India and England. In the 3rd Test of Australia's tour of India, Starc came within one run of being the first Australian to score a Test century batting 9 or below for 65 years. He played "nervelessly" through most of his innings, but when he reached 99 India's captain MS Dhoni brought the fielders in to put more pressure on Starc, and he began to play false shots. Starc attempted to drive the ball off of Ishant Sharma's bowling, but instead he edged the ball behind him and was caught by Dhoni. This turned out to be Starc's final match of the tour. India had won the series at the end of the 3rd Test match, so rather than risk Starc's ankle spur becoming a bigger problem, the team's management sent him back to Australia for surgery with the hope that he would be recovered in time for the tour of England.It was then discovered that a separate spur had already broken off on the inside of Starc's ankle, which had been causing him pain for several months. Starc later revealed that he had been relying on injections of painkillers to get through his bowling, but the injections were no longer numbing the pain by the end of the India series. The surgery was a success and he was named in Australia's squads for the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2013 Ashes series in England.
Starc's first international match after recovering from his ankle surgery came in Australia's first match of the Champions Trophy. This loss to England turned out to be Starc's only match for the tournament as he was still tentative in his recovery from injury. He continued his recovery by playing in a tour match against Somerset, in which he and James Pattinson tore through Somerset's batting with the second new ball, taking 6 wickets for no runs as Somerset collapsed from 2/304 to 320 all out.In the 2013 Ashes series, Starc played in Australia's loss in the first match but was dropped for the second Test. He was brought back into the side for the third match, being preferred because he could help create footmarks on the pitch for off-spinner Nathan Lyon to bowl into. Starc struggled to bowl with accuracy, but on day 3 of the match he was able to generate reverse swing with the ball and take several key wickets. His inaccuracy also proved useful, as a wayward ball delivered to the leg side dismissed Alastair Cook when Cook was well set at the crease. Starc's wickets helped to give Australia a chance of winning the match, but the match was ultimately drawn.Starc was yet again dropped for the fourth match of the series, and yet again recalled for the fifth and final match, with England having already retained the Ashes. By this point he had no played in two consecutive matches in a series since 2011. Overall, his Ashes series showed signs that he was improving, but consistency and inaccuracy remained issues for him. Instead of staying in England for the following ODI series, Starc returned home to Australia because of lower back soreness. This was later diagnosed as a stress fracture which ruled Starc out of Australia's home summer, including the 2013–14 Ashes series rematch against England. Starc would not return to the Australian Test side until October 2014
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