"And then the delivery: one huge stride of a giant right leg and the arm catapulting over, pure momentum, pure balance, pure speed. If England were counting on the 35-year-old Starc stumbling over the hill in this series, it was an assumption too many. Like Jimmy Anderson before him, Starc is ageing like the finest of racehorses those seven wickets for 58 in the first innings at Perth were his best Test figures."
"He walked off the field as player of the match, with 10 in the game for the third time in his career, though this time in less than two days. As Rory Burns could testify, Starc bowls a mean match opener. In 2021 he was famously circling at the top of his mark waiting for the umpires to call play at the Gabba, before toppling Burns with a pitch-perfect inswinger very first ball, to start the series as it meant to go on."
"Downhill fast. This time around, England did at least last five balls before Crawley threw himself at a perfect length delivery and Usman Khawaja did the rest at slip, albeit at the second time of asking. When Starc removed Crawley in the second innings, courtesy of that momentum-defying mid-air body swerve and snatch to his left, it was the 21st time he had taken a wicket in his first over of an innings in his Test career."
Mitchell Starc combined a towering, rhythmic run-up with raw pace, balance and lethal accuracy to devastating effect. He recorded seven for 58 in the first innings at Perth, his best Test figures, and finished the match with ten wickets, earning player-of-the-match honors for the third time in his career in under two days. Starc frequently strikes early, having taken a wicket in the first over of an innings 21 times in Tests. He has maintained pace and menace with age comparable to the finest racehorses, producing key dismissals including Rory Burns and Zak Crawley.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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