It was right that Mitchell Starc should clean up the last two English wickets of this Ashes. Right, too, that Travis Head should mop up a few more runs, but for all of the enjoyment that Head brings with his Jayasuriya-lite batting and his Boon-lite persona, the difference in the series has been the other left-hander. The fifth morning of the Sydney Test took Starc to 31 wickets at 19, and crossing 30 is the stuff of great Ashes series. Sixteen other Australians have done it, a list mostly comprised of players who only need be identified by surnames.
In the manner of schoolteachers meeting you as an adult, some people are stuck with a memory of Starc as he was at the beginning: a lanky possessor of promise with the risk of being wayward, expensive or injured. In the manner of truly fast bowlers, he is seen as part animal, part force of nature: his feats are elements unleashed, not the work of brain and skill. He is admired for that while still viewed as livestock. Like, Gandalf’s horse is awesome, but it’s still a horse.
Hopefully, that perception keeps changing as it should increasingly have done over recent years. He has become Australia’s most durable quick, and far more consistent in accuracy and performance. Thursday’s two wickets took Starc to 433 for his career, past Richard Hadlee, level with Rangana Herath, one behind Kapil Dev. Another seven would take him past Dale Steyn, into the top 10 wicket-takers of all time.
Then there is the current Ashes series, which may, when all is said and done, crown that vast career. For eight years, Starc has done national duties within the comfort of a four-man bowling operation: their 35 Tests together far exceeds any other cricket quartet. Even if one is missing, the others make it feel like home. Until this series: Starc got one Test out of Pat Cummins, effectively one out of Nathan Lyon, while Josh Hazlewood stayed home on the treadmill.
In their collective absence, he assumed the responsibility of leading the line, bowling with smarts and stamina. All five Tests, and his third-most overs in a series. His pace never dropped, staying in the mid-140s in metric terms right up until his final spell. He swung the new ball on occasion, got it to jag the other way using wobble seam, and delivered relentless accuracy, constantly threatening the right-handers’ outside edges with balls that jumped off a length, and working the left-handers with his angle in.
Then you account for his runs: the 77 in Brisbane was match-defining, after England had made a proper first-innings score and had Australia within reach. Instead of getting to build a lead during daylight, Starc instead forced England to begin addressing a hefty deficit at dusk. In Adelaide Australia were way under par on the first innings, only for Starc’s 54 to be part of adding an even hundred runs for the last three wickets, as well as eating up part of the 40C second day and avoiding some time fielding in the heat.
The calculus is this: Australia probably would have won Perth, and might have won Adelaide and Sydney, with someone else batting in the spot where Head made his hundreds. Without Starc, Australia would likely have lost the first two Tests and possibly the third.
Of particular note was how he stifled England’s opening partnership, and how he broke Ben Duckett. After an excellent couple of years in Tests and one-day cricket, Duckett had developed into one of England’s few bankers. His partnership with Zak Crawley was a key part of England’s plan, given the way the pair at home in 2023 had been able to put pressure on Australia with attacking strokeplay from the jump.
Four times Starc knocked over one or other of them in the first over of an innings, including both times at Perth to set the tone. Nine of his wickets in total were the two openers. Their partnerships were 0, 0, 5, 48, 37, 4, 7, 51, 35, and 4.
The 51 did help England pinch their win at Melbourne, given the chase was so low, but Duckett’s contribution was sloppy and ended with his boot blown off by a Starc yorker several levels in class above the defence that was facing it. Overall the opener was squashed, unable to get away even when he made starts. Six times he was out between 20 and 42, and never went beyond the latter. Crawley ended up having the better series despite averaging 27, with his scores of 76 and 85 at least providing a toehold in Brisbane and Adelaide.
In short, Starc took the oxygen out of England’s top order, which then allowed him to work away at the middle. He got Joe Root three times, Ben Stokes five, and only half a dozen of his wickets came against the bowlers.
Head caught the eye with his 629 runs, but so did Starc with some pearlers: the swing back into Crawley’s pad at Sydney, the jag through the gate of Stokes in Adelaide. Player of the series adjudication needs more depth than just who topped the scoring. Mitchell Starc should be remembered for this one.
