Mithcell Starc, the speedster from Australia, is arguably one of the finest bowlers of modern-day cricket. Starc, who has excelled in delivering inch-perfect yorkers, is also rich with the ability to swing the ball both ways.
By and large, one can say that he has ticked every box that a quality seamer wishes to have in the fascinating game.
Starc had a tremendous 2019 cricket World Cup which was held in England and Wales. He was the most successful bowler in the global showpiece event. In 10 matches, the 30-yeard-old managed to claim 27 wickets – highest by any bowler in the 2019 World Cup.
Despite all the success and skills in white-ball cricket, Starc stays away from non-international T20 matches. On May 22, 2015, five years ago, the Baulkham Hills-born cricketer last appeared in a non-international T20 game, representing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was an IPL playoff between RCB and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Even in the Big Bash League (BBL), Starc doesn’t show his magic. But why does he do that? Well, on Tuesday, Starc revealed the real reason behind his decision to stay away from franchise cricket. When not on national duty, Starc just wants to be at home with his wife Allysa Healy, who also happens to be a massive name in women cricket.
“Certainly, money is a big aspect of it. It’s hard enough juggling one cricket schedule with three formats, let alone when my wife plays cricket on a completely different schedule as well. So, that’s something that I take into consideration heavily, being able to spend time together and I guess in the instance of the IPL, that (comes during) a Cricket Australia leave period,” said Starc as quoted by Cricbuzz.
In fact, Starc likes to spend time with his wife so much that recently when Australia were on a tour to South Africa, he ended it a bit early in order to felt his presence at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was March 8, when his wife and hosts Australia were facing India in the women’s T20 World Cup final.
The New South Wales cricketer justified his decision to opt-out from IPL in order to spend a few weeks with his family by mentioning the fact that he has even given up playing in BBL.
“For us, to have that time together, which we have in the last eight weeks, I wouldn’t give that up for a contract at all. I have put that (BBL) on the side to spend a couple of extra weeks at home. It’s not just the IPL or others; it’s the ones in Australia as well,” Starc added.
However, Starc also articulated that he is still open to play in non-international T20 matches. He opined that whenever the time comes, he will decide on the basis of his schedule and how his body is responding.
“I’m still open to playing T20 leagues, obviously the IPL and BBL, which I haven’t played much of as well. There’s a lot I consider when making those decisions, and that’s not to say that I won’t play this year, next year or any other year. I’ll take it as it comes with the schedule that I’ve played, how my body is going, and I guess a large portion of that is how little I’ve seen my wife and family as well,” Starc added further.
