30 Fascinating Facts About Mitchell Starc That Every Fan Should Know

5 December 2019, 2:26 am EST By Ruby Karnick

Mitchell Starc, the left-arm fast bowler from the Australian national cricket team, became the fastest bowler to take 150 wickets in ODIs, doing so in just 77 innings, during the 2019 World Cup. Here are some facts the Australian cricket player:

Starc, standing at an imposing six foot five inches, is a left arm fast bowler and more than handy batsman lower down the order.
He was born Mitchell Aaron Starc on January 30, 1990, Baulkham Hills, New South Wales, Australia, His family is believed to be of Slovenian descent, He is the older brother of Brandon Starc, the Olympian high jumper and also has two younger sisters, Amanda Starc and Tay Starc.
He attended Homebush Boys High School. He was introduced to cricket by his father, Paul Starc, at a young and went on to play for his school.
Starc honed his cricketing skills at Berala Sports Cricket Club in Sydney, where he was wicket keeper - batsman in junior grades. As a 9 years old he represented Northern District as a wicketkeeper and that’s where he met his future wife.
He is married to his childhood friend and Australian Women team wicketkeeper batswoman, Alyssa Healy since April 15, 2016. They are the third cricket playing couple who went on represent their national team.
Around the age of 14 years, he was spotted by club coach who insisted him to drop wicket keeping and make bowling as a prominent career.
He made his first-class debut for New South Wales at the age of 19, against Western Australia in March 2009, in the last game of Sheffield Shield competition. His first wicket was that of D.C. Bandy. He scored 8 runs and took two wickets in the match.
In 2009-10 season he got to play 8 games scoring 98 runs at an average of 32.66, with highest score of 54 not out. He was the joined second highest wicket taker for his state with 21 wickets with an economy of 3.60.
As a batsman his best season was in 2016-17 season, when he aggregated 216 runs at an average of 27.0 with two fifties including his highest score of 84. In his 84 he had 3 fours and 7 sixes.
His best bowling analysis of 8 for 73 in first-class cricket was achieved in 2017-18 and ended the season with 39 wickets at an economy of 18.82.

Starc’s List-A debut was on November 1, 2009, also against Western Australia in the Ford Ranger Cup. His spell of 2 for 24 in his 10 overs with 4 maidens restricted Western Australia to 179 all out in 44 overs. In all he took 10 wickets in the season with an economy of 5.07.
His Big Bash debut for New South Wales was against Tasmania on December 30, 2009, in which he was bit expensive giving away 36 runs in 3 overs for one wicket. In the season he took 4 wickets for 126 runs in 5 innings for an economy of 8.59.
In 2017, in the game against Western Australia, Starc, became the first bowler in Sheffield Shield and 8th player in a first class match, to pick up two hat-tricks. He took 4 for 56 and 3 for 41 to finish with the figures of 7/97 in the match.
During the tour of India in 2013, he became the first batsman to be dismissed for 99 after coming in at No.9 in a Test match. He is also the first tail-ender to play at least 100 balls in both the innings of a Test match and has the distinction of also bowling 200 balls in that match.
In 2015 One-Day Matador Cup, Starc smashed the Australian domestic record for the most wicket in a single season. His tally of 26 wickets from just 6 matches in the competition at an average of 8.12 and strike rate of 12.3 @ a wicket almost every two overs. He broke the record of Shane Harwood of Victoria set in 2008-09.
As a 20-year-old on October 20, 2010, he made his One-Day International debut against India at Visakhapatnam. Though he didn’t get to bat, he sent down 8.5 overs conceding 51 runs and went wicket less.
His natural gift for speed, swing and bounce was very much in evidence during his test debut against New Zealand in December 2011. Though he took two wickets at an economy of 4.50, his unbeaten 32 in 54 balls was valuable in stitching partnership down the orders for posting an imposing total.
In the 3rd test at Perth against South Africa in December 2012, he recorded his first five wicket haul and also recorded the second fastest fifty by Australian. He took 6 for 154 and unbeaten 68 in 43 balls in the second innings of the test for losing cause.
In November 2015, in a Test match against New Zealand, he breached the fabled 160 kmph mark with his fourth and fifth ball of 21st over. He clocked 160.4 kmph when bowling to Ross Taylor, batting on 137 at the time.
He was crowned the Player of the Tournament at 2015 Cricket World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand. He wreaked havoc throughout the tournament and finished with 22 wickets with best economy rate of 3.50. He had second best bowling figures with 6 for 28 in 9 overs against New Zealand and send down 269 dot balls, the fifth best in the tournament.

Starc won the ‘2017 Allen Border Medal’ for best Test bowler. The vote was cast after each game on a 3-2-1 basis by his peers, the media, and umpires. In the 2016-17, season he claimed 50 wickets in 71 matches including a 10 wicket haul in a match with an economy of 3.47.
In the Pune Test match during the tour of India in February 2017, he surpassed 1,000 test runs and in the process became the 14th Australian cricketer to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in Test cricket. In the match he had a score of 61 and 30 runs.
During the tour of South Africa in 2018, he earned the Man of the Match in the first Test at Durban. He had a match analysis of 5 for 34 in the first innings and 4 for 75 in the second innings and his 25 balls 35 helped the team to post 351 in the first innings.
In the series against Sri Lanka in January 2019, in the first Test at Brisbane, he claimed his 200th wicket which was his 50th Test. He went on to claim his second 10 wicket haul in his career in the second Test at Canberra, with 5 for 54 and 5 for 46.
In the match against West Indies during the 2019 World Cup team, Starc picked up his 6th five-wicket haul when he dismissed Sheldon Cottrell and in the process became the fastest to 150 ODI wicket in his 77th game. He took 5 wickets for 44 runs in his 10 overs to earn a nickname ‘FLOAT,’ which stand for ‘Fastest Left-Armer Of All Time.’
In 2012 Starc was signed-up by Sydney Sixers for the inaugural Big Bash League and he fully justified it by ended the league as joined third highest wicket taker with 13 in 6 matches with an economy of 8.18.
Though he was signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2014 Indian Premier League and subsequently by Kolkata Knight Riders, he was for most part on injury list.
In the successive test against Sri Lanka in 2016, he claimed three- 5 wicket hauls in three innings. He had 5 for 44 and 6 for 50 in the first test at Galle and 5 for 63 in the first innings of second test at Sinhalese.
In the same series against Sri Lanka, at Galle, Starc claimed a wicket with the first ball of the match, when he had FDM Karunaratne caught by Burns.
He is a big fan of Greater Western Sydney Giants of Australian Football League.