'He's stacking up an amazing career' - Ponting extols Mitchell Starc following 400 Test wickets

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, who has closely followed Mitchell Starc’s journey since his early days, lauded the pacer for his remarkable longevity and enduring legacy. Starc recently became one of the rare fast bowlers to reach the milestone of 100 Test matches for Australia.

In Jamaica, Starc made the pink ball talk, dismantling the West Indies batting line-up with a devastating spell. He claimed a five-wicket haul in just 15 balls and finished with career-best figures of 6 for 9, as West Indies were bowled out for just 27, the second-lowest total in Test history.

“He's really now stacking up an amazing career – over 400 Test match wickets. I think everyone who laid eyes on him as a youngster understood that there was every possibility that he could be a 100-Test match, 400 or 500-wicket fast bowler for Australia. He's got to be 6’5”. He's always had pace on his side, he's always been sort of that high 140s and sometimes pushing that sort of 150 kph barrier. He's had the ability to swing the new ball back into the right-handers,” said Ponting in a conversation with on The ICC Review.

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Starc made his first-class debut for New South Wales in 2009 at just 19 years old, and within two years, he had earned his Test cap. Over a career spanning sixteen years and 292 international matches, Starc has remarkably stayed close to his physical peak.

“A lot of that physical stuff has never been questioned with him. It's been spoken about a fair bit this week. He's made a lot of decisions to give him the best opportunity to have a long-term international career. When I say decisions, I mean by standing out of different IPL tournaments at different times when he's had bigger international commitments coming up,” said Ponting.

“Starc could trouble even Tendulkar”

Ponting, who was part of the dressing room during Starc’s early days in Test cricket, witnessed firsthand the young pacer finding his footing at the highest level. He fondly recalled Starc’s third Test match, against India in Perth, where the left-armer troubled none other than Sachin Tendulkar with his raw pace and sharp movement. Ponting said it was during that spell that he realized Starc had something truly special.

“I remember, he was bowling a spell to Sachin Tendulkar and was able to sort of bowl a short one, get up under Sachin's armpit and Sachin just sort of knocked one into short leg on the leg side. And when you could see that sort of pace and bounce and have someone like Sachin not be able to cope with it, I think that was reassurance for all of us that there was probably something extra special there for Mitchell Starc,” the former batter added.

Starc is one of the most decorated cricketers of his era, a two-time 50-over World Cup winner, T20 World Cup champion, and World Test Championship winner, with 725 international wickets to his name. Ponting noted that despite all his achievements, Starc still possesses an insatiable hunger to evolve, improve, and add new weapons to his bowling arsenal.

“He's got better and better. Like skill-wise and mentally, I think he understands his body, understands his game probably better than ever, especially the last couple of years. He's added a couple of different skills maybe the last two or three years that don't seem like massive things, but he's sort of incorporated that three-quarters seam, that wobble seam delivery that's just made his in-swing of that little bit more potent as well and has given him a little bit more variation,” the legendary cricketer said.

Wearing a tape on his non-bowling hand helps him: Ponting

The three-time World Cup-winner highlighted the small yet meaningful routines the Aussie left-arm pacer has developed over the years of his international career, rituals that help him stay focused and maintain the right mindset on the field.

“When I talk about working out his own game, you've probably seen it and heard about it in the past, but he wears a bit of tape on his, I think it's his right wrist, his non-bowling hand. And he's just got a couple of words, which is just a reminder for him of what he has to do and how he has to think about it mentally,” said the cricketer-turned-coach said.

“So those little things, I think, are things you learn along the way with the more experience that you have. He's physically going along as well as ever. He's always had those little niggles like all fast bowlers do, but he finds a way to push through them, he plays games out with niggles and that's why he's standing there now with 400 Test wickets next to his name,” he concluded.