Starcs flying high from Colombo to Rio

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc had no doubt earned himself a relaxing sleep-in this morning after another scintillating performance in Sri Lanka, but the in-form speedster was setting the alarm early as another member of the Starc family took to the world stage.

Brandon Starc, 22, this morning featured in the high jump qualifiers at the Olympic Games in which he earned a spot in the final, to be staged early on Wednesday morning Colombo time, also day five of the cricket.

“I briefly spoke to him before heading off to the game," Starc said during the lunch break today.

"Obviously he’s very happy to be through to the next stage and Wednesday morning he’ll be up early again.

"Hopefully he can get on the podium and jump his best. Just to make an Olympic final is a special effort, especially for a 22-year-old in your first Olympic Games, so I’m pretty chuffed for him."

The elder of the two yesterday claimed his third five-wicket haul on the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka to dismiss the hosts for 355, before Shaun Marsh and Steve Smith staged an unbeaten 120-run stand to guide Australia to 1-141 at stumps on day two.

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The state of play in Colombo allowed Starc to make the most of the early wake-up call and watch on as Brandon achieved his dream of representing his country on sport's biggest stage.

"I'm glad we're batting!" Starc told media after play at the SSC Ground. "So I'll be able to get up at about 5am and watch the brother over in Rio do his thing in the high jump.

"I'm pretty excited and proud of the younger brother to represent his country in the Olympics.

"He's worked his butt off to get there, so I'm very proud of him and I'm sure he'll do himself and his country proud tomorrow."

While Starc says he 'had a crack' at the high jump during his school days, the left-arm quick believes the pair nailed their respective choices.

"I thought if I did any good at it I could get a couple of extra days off school and go to the next level," Starc told News Corp ahead of the Sri Lankan series.

"I wasn't any good after that. I stopped in Year 12.

"From my brother's perspective, the high jump at the Olympics on the world stage, hopefully winning a medal, that's as good as it gets."

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Starc knows a thing or two about dominating a showpiece event, having been named Player of the Tournament for his imperious display at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup where he landed 22 scalps at the scarcely believable average of 10.18.

But the immensely talented paceman had struggled to carry his One-Day International dominance over to the Test arena, with surgery on his foot and ankle late last year ruling him out of action for more than seven months and curtailing his rise as Australia's new fast-bowling supremo.

But in Sri Lanka, the 26-year-old has destroyed any doubt around his ability to become a dominant force in the five-day game as he continues to be the shining light on an otherwise disappointing tour for the Australians.

Following Sri Lanka's first innings on another dry pitch that in no way offers any assistance to the quicks, Starc now has 22 wickets at an average of 13.27 with another opportunity to add to his haul later in this Test.

With his bag of wickets in Colombo, Starc became the first pace bowler to claim a trio of five-wicket hauls in a Test series in Sri Lanka.

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Another bag of five in the second innings will see him overtake Sri Lanka great Chaminda Vaas (26 wickets at an average of 15.42) for the most wickets by a quick in a series on the island nation.

While earning deserved praise for his stunning performances, particularly in Galle and Colombo, Starc was adamant his fellow bowlers deserved much of the credit.

"I knew it was going to be hard work and it has been," he said of his pre-series thoughts on touring the subcontinent.

"I've been very fortunate. I don't think I'd be able to bowl as aggressively and bowl as fast as I can without having someone like 'Hoff' (Josh Hazlewood) at the other end bowling as well as he is.

"He obviously hasn't got the reward that he probably deserves, the way he's bowled.

"The way we work together in a partnership allows me to be able to bowl the way I can.

"Mitch Marsh has done that for a little bit, the spinners were great in this Test match as well.

"It does take a whole bowling unit for one guy or a couple of guys to get the rewards."