“I’m not someone like Jimmy who played until he was 40-odd” – Mitchell Starc on trying to prolong his career across formats in modern-day cricket

Australia’s gun fast bowler Mitchell Starc has admitted that he might not be able to prolong his career across formats in modern-day cricket like England’s fast bowler James Anderson, who recently retired at 42 years.

Starc, 34, is going strongly at the top level and has performed consistently for Australia in all three formats. The left-arm pacer picked 16 wickets in 10 matches of the ODI World Cup 2023 and played an instrumental role in taking his team to glory.

Starc also played a key role in taking Kolkata Knight Riders to glory as he scalped 17 wickets in 14 matches of IPL 2024. The ace pacer is still fit as a fiddle and can easily play at the top level for another few years.

“I’ve been very lucky to play three formats for a very long time. How long that will continue, I’m not sure. The scheduling of three formats is getting harder and harder and finding blocks of time to spend time on my body is going to take away from others,” Starc said (via The Sydney Morning Herald).

“Tests are still definitely the pinnacle for me and I think my body will play a part in that decision whenever it gets to it. I’m not someone like Jimmy who played until he was 40-odd and had incredible skills to swing it both ways. I’ve never been that bowler and there’s plenty of better bowlers around the country to fill that job. I’m really looking forward to this summer and I haven’t put any expiry date on anything just yet,” he added.

Meanwhile, Starc will be part of Australia’s squad for the upcoming five-match Test series against India. The 34-year-old said the Border-Gavaskar series is on par with the Ashes.

“It’s thrown it right on par with an Ashes series being [expanded to] five Tests. The Border-Gavaskar doesn’t have that length of history [as the Ashes] but I think the level of competitiveness between both trophies is on par. We’re currently one and two in the Test table so there will be a bit of spice to it,” Starc said in the same interview.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.