Mitchell Starc

Starc entered into the Australian cricket mix as a younger version ‘Mitchell Johnson’. The youngster bettered his pace and accuracy and it can be said that he has emulated Johnson in factors like bowling action, accuracy and causing fear in batsmen’s heads. The only thing that restricted him from emulating Johnson statistically was the amount of injuries that kept him away from cricket.

Biography - About Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc was Australia’s X-factor during ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. He bowled the most lethal bouncers and brought in the variation of Yorkers to rattle most of the batting attacks in the world.

Mitchell Starc - Along the Years

Records

Domestic or T20 League Records

1. Starc was the Man of the Tournament in the Marsh One-Day Cup in 2015.
2. Became the first bowler to take a hat-trick in both innings of a Sheffield Shield match in 2017

International Records

1. Bowled the fastest delivery in a Test match to Ross Taylor at 160.4 kmph (99.67mph) on 15 November 2015.
2. Became the then fastest bowler to take 100 ODI wickets (52 innings) on 21 August 2016. He is still the fastest pacer to do so.
3. Became leading wicket-taker across all formats for Australia in domestic as well as international cricket as he took 60 wickets in the 2014/15 season.
4. Leading wicket-taker in ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 (22 wickets)
5. Leading wicket-taker in international cricket in calendar year 2015 (87 wickets)
6. 14th Australian to pick up 100 wickets and score 1000 runs in Tests
7. Fastest to 150 ODI wickets (77 matches)
8. Has the most number of five-wicket hauls in World Cup cricket (3)
9. Leading wicket-taker in ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 (27 wickets)

Awards

1. Man of the Tournament at 2015 ICC World Cup
2. Received the Allan Border Medal in 2017 for Best Australian Test bowler in 2016

Career

Domestic career

Starc made his First Class debut for his hometown side New South Wales in 2009 at the age of 19 years. He also kept performing for his club ‘Western Suburbs’ and his state’s 2nd XI. He made rapid strides as a bowling all-rounder in the domestic circuit.

He made his List A and T20 debuts in domestic cricket in the same year. After some exceptional performances in his debut year, he earned a national call-up the very next year.

International career

Starc made his international debut in an ODI against India in Visakhapatnam on 20 October 2010. He played the only game in the series and earned a Test debut three months later against New Zealand in Brisbane. He could not perform exceptionally with the ball but scored 99 against India national cricket team in his second Test series. He then became the first batsman batting below the No. 8 position to face more than 100 balls in both innings.

He made his T20I debut against Pakistan on 7 September 2012 in Dubai and was also named in the 2012 ICC T20 World Cup ‘Team of the Tournament’. He continued his good performances and was included in the 2013 ICC World ODI XI. He had cemented his place in the Australian ODI side by then.

He was their mainstay in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. He became the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 22 wickets to his name while they won the title for a record fifth time. Starc was also awarded the Man of the Tournament and he collected his award from the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. He had become a prominent bowler who liked to clean the ‘tails’ of batting lineups. His best bowling performance in ODIs also came during a league stage match against eventual Runner Ups and co-hosts New Zealand as he picked up 6/28.

The calendar year 2015 was the pinnacle year for Starc as he became the leading wicket-taker across formats in international cricket as he recorded 87 scalps in the year. The very next year, he recorded his 100th Test wicket in Sri Lanka. He was named in the 2016 ICC World Test and ODI XIs. He then received the Allan Border for the best Australian Test bowler of 2016.

In the 2016/17 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India, Starc scored his 1000th Test run in addition to his 100 Test wickets and became the 14th Aussie to do so. He was then once again named in the ICC World Test XI in 2017. He soon earned a national contract by Cricket Australia in early 2018.

He was picked for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup and once became the highest wicket-taker in the tournament. By picking 27 wickets, he broke the record of most wickets in a single ICC Cricket World Cup. Also, he added two five-wicket hauls to his previous one, and now has the most five-wicket hauls in World Cup cricket. He was added in the Team of the Tournament by ICC.

IPL and BBL career

Mitchell Starc was picked up by the Sydney Sixers to play in the 2011/12 Big Bash League. He picked up 13 wickets in 6 matches in a successful tournament for the Sixers franchise as they won the inaugural edition of the BBL. He played just one game and picked up 2 wickets in the next two editions each.

He was then picked up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore to play in the IPL 2014. He picked up 14 wickets in the same number of games. In the 2014/15 BBL that followed, he played just 2 games and took 3 wickets.

Also see - Usman Khawaja Biography

The 2015 edition of the IPL was after the World Cup. Starc was yet to recover from an injury and thus joined RCB from their third game. He continued his brilliant form the mega event and picked up 20 wickets in just 13 games. He ended up being the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

He ended his tenure with the RCB in 2017 and was later picked up by the Kolkata Knight Riders to play in IPL 2018. He missed the entire season due to injury and was released by KKR in November 2018.

Family

He is the younger brother of Brandon Starc, who is an Olympic high jumper. Mitchell got married to Australian Women’s Team wicket-keeper Alyssa Healy on 15 April 2016. They met for the first time at the age of 9, when they were both wicket-keepers for the Northern Districts.