New Delhi: The International Cricket Council chair Jay Shah congratulated Australia speedster Mitchell Starc for achieving a 100-Test milestone and said the left-arm pacer is still on top of his game after making his debut in 2011.
Starc became the 16th Australian to play 100 Tests and just the second Aussie fast bowler to achieve the feat, joining Glenn McGrath, when he took the field in the third Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park Sunday.
“Congratulations to Australia’s Mitchell Starc for playing 100 Tests, a huge achievement for any cricketer but even more so for a fast bowler. Test debut came way back in 2011, and he’s still at the top of his game,” Shah shared on X.
Mitchell Starc has joined an elite group of 15 other Australians to have earned 100 Test caps. He also became the 15th fast bowler overall, including all-rounders like Jacques Kallis and Ben Stokes, to achieve the double milestone of 100 Test wickets and 100 Test appearances.
Starc reached his 100th Test in the 14th year of his career, having debuted in December 2011 against New Zealand. Since then, he has played in 99 of Australia’s 141 Tests, taking 395 wickets at an average of 27.39 and an impressive strike rate of 48 balls per wicket.
The pacer needs four more wickets to complete 400 scalps in 100 Tests, which will make him the eighth pacer to achieve the double. Whether or not he takes the remaining wickets in Jamaica, Starc is all but certain to become the second-fastest bowler to reach 400 Test wickets in terms of balls bowled, behind only Dale Steyn, who got there in 16,334 deliveries.
Starc, currently on 18,971 balls bowled, is on track to reach the milestone at least 1,000 deliveries quicker than the next closest, Richard Hadlee (between 20,322 and 20,436 balls). He will also surpass Glenn McGrath, making him the fastest Australian to the 400-wicket mark by this metric.
IANS