Didn’t want to play cricket at all: Starc

Not long before an incredible turnaround culminated in him winning Australia’s men’s cricketer of the year award, Mitchell Starc was on the verge of quitting the sport. Starc was not taking the number of wickets expected of a pacer of his calibre. He was also leaking plenty of runs on the fi eld and, off it, he was losing his father to cancer. While Starc managed to keep his cricket going despite a below-par outing against India in the 2020-21 Test series at home, he lost his father to the dreaded disease soon after.

Looking back at the tumultuous phase, he added, “I probably didn’t play the cricket I wanted to and, at certain stages, I probably didn’t want to play cricket at all.” The pacer was heavily criticised after he took just 11 wickets at 40.72 in the series against India.

Criticism by spin legend Shane Warne ahead of the Ashes didn’t help either and Starc made it clear that it did not go down well with him. He ended the Ashes as one of the team’s key performers in its 4-0 drubbing of England. (Agencies)