‘Not slowing down’: Starc on pace for rare air

Australian Test spearhead Mitchell Starc is bowling “better than he’s ever been” according to former skipper Ricky Ponting and will etch himself as an all-time great by entering rarefied air in the coming years.

Starc, 34, tore through the Indian batting line-up in the first innings in Adelaide, his six wickets setting up the win that helped the home team equal the five-match series at 1-1 ahead of the third Test in Brisbane starting on Saturday.

The left-armer relished another go with the pink ball, finishing the match, his 91st Test, with eight wickets to cement his spot in fourth place on Australia’s all-time Test wicket-takers.

Starc has 369 Test wickets and Ponting is adamant the veteran quick is showing every sign he’s still at his peak and won’t be relinquishing his spot in the first-choice bowling line-up anytime soon.

The next 12 months of Tests – three more against India, two against Sri Lanka and two against the West Indies before next year’s home Ashes – could also be enough for Starc to further enhance his credentials.

Only three Australian bowlers – Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and spin star Nathan Lyon – have racked up 400 Test wickets and Starc is on track to become the fourth.

“He certainly deserves high praise. I mean, he’s probably in the last couple of years been better than he’s ever been,” Ponting told the ICC Review.

“And the reason that I say that is I think he’s a more consistent bowler now than he’s ever been before, yet his pace is still about the same as it always was. I mean, he could bowl over 150km/h probably a few years ago and he’s in absolute prime now. He’s sort of operating in the mid-140s, but his consistency, the way he’s starting spells, is really good now as well.

“I was really impressed by how he started his first spell in Perth and then the way he started his first spell in Adelaide was obviously unbelievably good. His pink-ball record speaks for itself and I think talking to some of the players as well, I think the reason why his pink-ball record is so good is I think the pink ball actually performs very similar to the white ball.

“And we know what sort of record that Mitchell Starc has got with a white ball. That might be a part of the reason why.

“He’s not slowing down. That’s just not the pace that he’s bowling, that’s the way that he’s bowling. Looking at him, (Josh) Hazelwood and Cummins, they could be around for another couple of years together yet.”

Starc has played 11 Tests in Brisbane and has taken 47 wickets among his 228 on home soil since his debut at the Gabba in 2011.