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, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowlers in white-ball cricket as well as one of the best fast bowlers to play the ICC Cricket World Cup. Starc represents Australia in all three main formats of international cricket: Test cricket, One Day Internationals (ODI), and Twenty20 Internationals. In 2015, he 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 also was a part of the team that won the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. At the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he picked up 27 wickets, which is an all-time record for the most wickets taken in a single edition of the tournament. In doing so, he became the leading wicket-taker in successive Cricket World Cup tournaments, having previously achieved the feat in 2015 as well. As of November 2023, he is the 3rd-highest wicket taker of all time in ICC Cricket World Cups.
He is the fastest bowler in the history of ODI cricket to reach 150 and 200 wickets, taking 77 and 102 matches respectively to reach the milestone. He is also the fastest bowler in the history of Cricket World Cups to reach 50 wickets, taking just 19 WC games to reach the milestone. Starc was also a key member of the Australian team that won the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final. He is one of five players who have managed to win an ICC trophy in all three formats of the game.
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 November 2023, he is the 5th-highest wicket-taking bowler for Australia in ODI and Test cricket.
Personal life
Starc is of Slovene descent. He is the elder brother of Australian Olympic high jumper Brandon Starc.
In 2015, Starc became engaged to fellow Australian cricketer Alyssa Healy, and they married on 15 April 2016. Starc and Healy were only the third married couple to both play Test cricket, after Roger and Ruth Prideaux, who represented England in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as Guy and Rasanjali de Alwis, who represented Sri Lanka in the 1980s and 1990s. They have since been joined by married women’s couples: Katherine and Natalie Sciver-Brunt, and Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk. They met when they were 9, when both were wicketkeepers for Northern Districts. In March 2020, Starc flew home ahead of the final ODI match against South Africa so he could watch Healy play in the final of the 2020 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
Starc supports the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League, and the St George Illawarra Dragons in the National Rugby League.
Early domestic career
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.
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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.
Mitchell Starc Height Weight Age Body Statistics Biography
| Bio | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Mitchell Aaron Starc |
| Nickname | Starc |
| Profession | Cricketer |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height | in centimeters- 196 cm in meters- 1.96 m in Feet Inches- 6’ 5” |
| Weight | in Kilograms- 92 kg in Pounds- 203 lbs |
| Body Measurements | – Chest: 42 Inches – Waist: 34 Inches – Biceps: 14 Inches |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Cricket | |
| International Debut | Test– 1 December 2011 New Zealand in Brisbane ODI– 20 October 2010 vs India in Visakhapatnam T20– 7 September 2012 vs Pakistan in Dubai |
| Coach/Mentor | Not Known |
| Jersey Number | #56(Australia) #56(IPL, County Cricket) |
| Domestic/State Team | Australia, Australia A, Australia Under-19s, New South Wales, New South Wales Second XI, New South Wales Under-17s, New South Wales Under-19s, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sydney Sixers, Western Suburbs, Yorkshire |
| Nature on field | Very aggressive |
| Likes to play against | India and England |
| Favourite Ball | Reverse swing |
| Records (main ones) | • Player of the Tournament in the 2015 World Cup for his 22 wickets at an average of 10.1. • One of the rarest bowler to bowl 160+ km/hr delivery (160.4 km/hr), others were Shoaib Akhtar, Shaun Tait and Brett Lee. • 2nd fastest test half-century (32 balls) by an Australian, which he scored against South Africa in 2012. • 1st tailender to have survived 100 balls in both Test innings in the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. |
| Career Turning Point | Performance in the 2009-10 season for New South Wales. |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 30 January 1990 |
| Age (as in 2024) | 34 Years |
| Birthplace | Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia |
| Zodiac sign | Aquarius |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Hometown | Sydney, Australia |
| School | Homebush Boys High School, Sydney |
| Educational Qualifications | Not Known |
| Family | Father– Not Known Mother– Not Known Brother– Brandon Starc (Younger, High jumper) Sisters– N/A |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Hobbies | Listening to music, Travelling |
| Controversies | • During an IPL match against Mumbai Indians, he was fined for his on field behavior against Kieron Pollard. • In 2015, he was fined $7725 for hurling a ball at New Zealand player Mark Craig during a Test. |
| Favourite Things | |
| Favourite Cricketer | Batsman: Adam Gilchrist Bowler: Glenn McGrath |
| Favourite Food | Chocolate and ice-cream |
| Favourite Actress | Emma Thompson |
| Girls, Family & More | |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Affairs/Girlfriends | Alyssa Healy (Cricketer) |
| Wife | Alyssa Healy (Cricketer) |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary | IPL (2024) – 24.75 Crore |
International career
2010–2012
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 Josh Hazlewood. 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. He took another two wickets in the second Test, 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. 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. Starc was recalled to Australia’s Test squad when James Pattinson was ruled out because of a foot injury, 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 9 May. 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 9 May match. Starc didn’t make his county championship debut for Yorkshire until 30 May, 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.
2015 Cricket World Cup
Starc was part of Australia’s victorious team in the 2015 Cricket World Cup, hosted in Australia and New Zealand. He took two wickets against England in the first match, but Australia’s second match against Bangladesh was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain. Australia’s third match of the World Cup was played against co-hosts New Zealand. Australia batted first and only scored 151, a target which they were not expected to be able to defend. Starc bowled well with swing to begin with, but after bowling 6 overs he was taken out of the bowling attack. Starc was brought back on later to bowl his remaining overs. He bowled the 23rd over, the last of his allotted 10 overs, with New Zealand at 145 runs for 7, needing just 7 more runs to win. New Zealand’s innings had been led by Kane Williamson, who was on strike at the start of Starc’s over, but took a single off of the second ball. Starc’s next delivery was a yorker, which bowled out Adam Milne. His next delivery was another yorker, which bowled out Tim Southee and put Starc on a hat-trick. Australia needed one more wicket to win the match, but New Zealand’s final batsman, Trent Boult, was able to defend the last two balls of Starc’s spell. Williamson hit the winning runs for New Zealand in the following over. Starc finished the match with 6 wickets, the second time he’d achieved this during the season. In doing so, he became the first Australian ever to take 6 wickets in an ODI on multiple occasions.
After the loss to New Zealand, Australia won the rest of their group matches against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Scotland. Against Scotland, Starc took four wickets for 14 runs in just five overs of bowling, including dismissing both of Scotland’s opening batsmen in the first seven overs of the innings. Australia made it to the final of the World Cup, which was again played against New Zealand. This time New Zealand batted first, and Starc opened the bowling for Australia. On the third ball of the match, Starc bowled Brendon McCullum. This wicket had the effect of putting New Zealand on the defensive from the very beginning, and they never recovered. Starc finished the tournament with 22 wickets and a bowling average of 10.18. His bowling strike-rate was 17.4 balls per wicket, the best of any bowler in a World Cup since the inaugural 1975 Cricket World Cup. Starc was named the player of the tournament, and he finished the tournament as the top-ranked ODI bowler in the world.
2019 Cricket World Cup
Australia’s first match of the World Cup was against the West Indies. Starc took five wickets in Australia’s 15-run win, including wickets at crucial times of the match to ensure Australia would get across the line. One of his wickets was a controversial dismissal of West Indies batsman Chris Gayle. Umpire Chris Gaffaney judged Gayle to be out twice in one over off of Starc’s bowling, once caught behind and once leg before wicket (lbw), but on both occasions Gayle used the Decision Review System (DRS) to overturn the umpire’s decision. In a later over, Gaffaney again judged Gayle to be out lbw off of Starc’s bowling, and Gayle again reviewed the decision, but the DRS upheld the umpire’s decision this time. Subsequent replays showed that on the delivery before the wicket, Starc had overstepped the popping crease in his delivery stride and bowled a no-ball, which Gaffaney had failed to call. If the no-ball had been called, then the subsequent ball would have been a free hit and Gayle could not have been dismissed lbw. West Indies captain Carlos Brathwaite thought that the umpiring mistake was highly consequential in the match result, saying, “To lose Chris in a chase of 280, who can probably get 180 of them himself obviously, broke the start that we wanted to have.” During the game, he also became the quickest bowler, in terms of number of matches, to take 150 wickets in ODIs, doing so in his 77th game (one match quicker than Saqlain Mushtaq, who did it in 78 games).
On 29 June 2019, in the match against New Zealand, Starc became the first bowler to take three five-wicket hauls at the Cricket World Cup. He finished the tournament with 27 dismissals, which is an all-time record for most wickets as an individual in a single World Cup.
2023 Cricket World Cup
He was part of 2023 Cricket World Cup Winning squad in India. He picked overall 16 wickets in 10 matches played. He played a crucial role in Knockout matches picking 3/34 in semifinal against South Africa and 3/55 in final against India. The spell in league match against New Zealand in Dharmshala became his first wicketless spell in Cricket world cups.
Indian Premier League
Throughout his cricket career, Starc has been signed to play for multiple franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but due to injuries and commitments to the Australian national team, he has missed more seasons than he has played. As of 2022, the only franchise he has played for is Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In 2014, Starc was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore to play in the 2014 IPL. In a match against Kings XI Punjab, Starc took two diving catches near the boundary to dismiss Glen Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha. Starc used a different method to most Australian cricketers to take these catches, with his fingers pointed down instead of up. Starc said of this, “Back home, most players favour the reverse cup method and some also say it is easier to get into the right position. But I have been used to the other method since childhood and it has stayed with me.” In a match on 6 May against Mumbai Indians, Starc got involved in an altercation with Mumbai batsman Kieron Pollard. In the 17th over of Bangalore’s innings, Starc bowled a bouncer to Pollard which Pollard failed to hit, after which the two players exchanged words. While Starc was in his run-up for the next delivery, Pollard pulled away from the crease, expecting Starc to abort his run-up. Instead of aborting, Starc followed Pollard and bowled the ball at his legs. Pollard swung his bat, threatening to throw it at Starc, and it slipped out of his hand and went to the leg side. Both players were fined a portion of their match fee (Starc 75% and Pollard 50%) and charged with offences under the IPL’s code of conduct, with Starc charged with “conduct that either (a) is contrary to the spirit of the game; or (b) brings the game into disrepute.” Public reaction to the altercation was overwhelmingly negative. ESPNcricinfo editor Nagraj Gollapudi opined that both players were let off leniently, as the punishment in the code of conduct could have been up to 100% of their match fee as well as a two-match ban. Ravi Shastri, then a member of the IPL governing council, warned that repeat incidents could result in match bans and fines of double the players’ match fees.
Starc’s start to the 2015 season was delayed due to a knee injury which kept him in Australia. Before Starc’s arrival, Bangalore were at the bottom of the IPL table, but when Starc returned he took the lead of Bangalore’s bowling and turned the team around. Royal Challengers Bangalore only lost one of their next seven matches, and Starc finished the tournament with 20 wickets. He missed the IPL in 2016 because of a foot fracture injury and in February 2017 parted ways with Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to reduce his workload and focus on his fitness for the upcoming 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
In January 2018, Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the equivalent of A$1.8 million, the second most of any Australian player bought in the 2018 auction, but he never played a match for the team. He was ruled out of the 2018 Indian Premier League due to injury, having tibial bone stress in his right leg sustained in a Test series against South Africa. The 2019 Indian Premier League was set to take place immediately before the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and Cricket Australia decided not to grant no objection certificates to players. This meant that any players selected to play in the World Cup would have been expected to leave the IPL early to join a pre-tournament camp. In November 2018, Kolkata released Starc from his contract, freeing him up to spend time preparing for the World Cup. Kolkata’s decision was believed to be a result of Cricket Australia’s refusal to make Starc available for the whole IPL season. Starc had taken insurance for his contract Kolkata, which would have entitled him to A$1.53 after missing the 2018 season because of injury, but the insurance company declared him ineligible and refused to pay. In 2019 Starc took legal action against the insurance company to recoup his losses.
Starc pulled out of the 2022 season, citing “bubble fatigue” as a reason. He has decided to return for the 2024 season and was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for 24.75 crore (approximately $4.4 million AUD), breaking the record for most expensive buy in the history of the IPL auction.
| International information | |
|---|---|
| National side | Australia |
| Test debut (cap 425) | 1 December 2011 v New Zealand |
| Last Test | 26 December 2023 v Pakistan |
| ODI debut (cap 185) | 20 October 2010 v India |
| Last ODI | 19 November 2023 v India |
| ODI shirt no. | 56 |
| T20I debut (cap 59) | 7 September 2012 v Pakistan |
| Last T20I | 31 October 2022 v Ireland |
| T20I shirt no. | 56 |
| Domestic team information | |
| Years | Team |
| 2008/09–present | New South Wales |
| 2011/12–2014/15 | Sydney Sixers |
| 2012 | Yorkshire |
| 2014–2015 | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| 2024 | Kolkata Knight Riders |
| Career statistics | |
| Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 83 121 58 134 Runs scored 1,992 571 94 2,864 Batting average 21.41 12.41 9.40 22.20 100s/50s 0/10 0/1 0/0 0/13 Top score 99 52* 14 99 Balls bowled 16,446 6,240 1,314 24,748 Wickets 339 236 73 514 Bowling average 27.49 22.96 22.91 26.82 5 wickets in innings 14 9 0 21 10 wickets in match 2 0 0 4 Best bowling 6/50 6/28 4/20 8/73 Catches/stumpings 35/– 44/– 15/– 62/– | |
| Medal record Men’s Cricket Representing  AustraliaWorld Cup Winner 2015 Australia & New Zealand Winner 2023 India T20 World Cup Winner2021 UAE & Oman World Test Championship Winner2021–2023 | |
| Source: CricketArchive, 21 December 2023 | |
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