AUS vs ENG | Tests always first, far above white-ball, Mitchell Starc reveals future plans
Mitchell Starc is one of the few premier all-format pacers in the world at the moment
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Mitchell Starc has stated he cannot continue playing all formats of cricket for an extended period in the future given the hectic international schedule. He went on to express his preference for Test cricket over white-ball formats before briefly discussing his future in the Australian T20 setup.
Mitchell Starc has captured the spotlight once again after he put in a man-of-the-match display to seal an ODI series victory for Australia in Sydney on Saturday. The left-arm quick got rid of bothĀ Jason Roy and Dawid Malan in a fiery opening spell before coming back later to clean up Chris Woakes and David Willey. Starc ended with brilliant figures ofĀ 8-1-47-4 in what was his 12th ODI four-wicket haul to go along with 16 in Tests and one in T20Is.
However, despite his all-format success, the 32-year-old pacer has conceded he can't be playing matches across all three formats for much longer.
"Not the way it's scheduled these days. It's certainly impossible at the moment to play every game as a three-format player," he was quoted saying by cricket.com.au.
Starc's dedication to the national cause is highlighted by hisĀ decision to skip both the BBL and the IPL year after year, having not featured in either since 2016.
"Having (the IPL period) to rest might help me keep bowling at decent speeds for a period of time. (But) I don't think playing three formats is something I can do for a long period moving forward," Starc added.
Starc's exploits have already brought his team huge success in white-balls, including the 2015 World Cup, but the bowler from Sydney has clear aims for his future,
"Tests (are) always first (priority) ā¦ far above white-ball. I'll decide on the rest as I go and where my body's at and how I feel about it. I'd love to, selection and form pending, continue playing Test cricket as long as I can,"Ā Starc said.
TheĀ pacer, however, was unsuccessful to have much impact on Australia's recent World T20 campaign at home where the team fell in the Super 12s. Despite all the hype around him, Starc was eventually dropped from the lineup for the final fixture against Afghanistan having already been stripped of new-ball duties in previous games. Nevertheless, Australia don't play a T20I next until August 2023 with the World T20 scheduled for 2024 in the Caribbean and United States.
"George and I have spoken and that's where it will stay. I spoke to George at length, it was a good conversation. Many different things were floated there. I still have ambitions to play T20 cricket for Australia, but it is a long time to the next one, and a lot of water to go under the bridge. So we will face that when we get to that," Starc explained.
