Starc finds his peace as many a milestone looms

Mitchell Starc happily admits he's never been one to keep an eye on personal milestones as he's racked them up across an international career spanning almost 15 years.

The 34-year-old reiterates that winning tournaments and important series – such as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign not long ago concluded – with his close mates is the currency that bankrolls his competitive spirit.

But the reality remains that Starc is poised to join an elite fraternity based on a couple of long-recognised Test cricket benchmarks, and is even closer to claiming places in the game's history he never foresaw given his fast-bowling skills set.

Should he snare two wickets in the upcoming series at Galle starting on Wednesday, he will overtake Pakistan's Wasim Akram as the most successful Test fast bowler visiting Sri Lanka's turf.

What is more remarkable about that accomplishment is Wasim was rightly regarded as a master in Asian conditions, where his capacity to swing the new and old ball granted him a potency few fellow quicks found on notoriously spin-friendly pitches.

The former Pakistan skipper captured 30 wickets at an average of 20.43 and a strike rate of a breakthrough every nine overs (53.67 deliveries) across the eight Tests he played in Sri Lanka between 1986 and 2000.

By comparison, fellow left-armer Starc currently has 29 wickets from just five Tests to date on the island at a superior average (17.48) and an extraordinarily more lethal strike of a scalp every five overs (29.66 balls).

Of all Test bowlers with 25 wickets or more on Sri Lanka pitches, no bowler – not even local legend, and the game's all-time most successful spinner Muttiah Muralidaran – can match Starc's strike rate.

And only New Zealander Sir Richard Hadlee recorded a more frugal average with his 27 victims costing 12.30 runs apiece here.

"It's very humbling when you see some of those names," Starc told cricket.com.au when made aware of the impending milestone. "As a left-armer, once I started bowling properly and watching Wasim, he was arguably the greatest lefty of all time.

"So to be able to spend some time with him, and listen to him talk about bowling and his wrist (position) and swinging the ball has been really, really cool.

"If I manage to get one or two (wickets), or get equal with him or something like that, it would be pretty cool too."

It's not only in Sri Lanka that Starc's raw pace, laser-like accuracy when executing his trademark yorkers, and capacity to find reverse swing when conditions allow has enabled him to remain a wicket-taking threat when conditions don't favour his craft.

Since playing his first Test on the Asian subcontinent, against India at Chennai on the now infamous 'homework-gate' tour of early 2013, no other visiting pace bowler operating in Asia has captured more than his 52 wickets at 30.42 from 17 outings.

The next most successful Test quick across India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE is ex-England evergreen James Anderson whose 50 wickets came from 18 appearances at an average of 23.56.

Starc laughs off his exalted status among fast-bowling contemporaries, noting "maybe I've been around too long because the way I'm talked about here, I don't think I would have put myself that high up the list".

But his effectiveness on surfaces that usually offer little other than heartburn and backache for genuinely fast bowlers suggests there is significantly more to his success than simple longevity.

"I think for a long time, the point of difference to me was a bit more air speed, not (compared to) other people but from my role in the (Australia bowling) group," he explained when pushed further.

"I had that extra air speed, and sometimes the air speed can take out the slowness of a wicket, or the fact that the wicket's not doing anything.

"Back in 2016 (Sri Lanka tour) there was a lot of reverse swing because the squares were really dry, and the wickets were really dry and abrasive.

"Then here in 2022 they would water the (wicket) square each day, so there was no reverse swing.

"So there's very, very different conditions in the same country on different tours.

"Obviously it's also very different from bowling in Australia. You're not going to have the bounce, you can't rough guys up as much as on fast, bouncy wickets because it just doesn't happen here, so you probably see very different fields.

"You see different types of bowling, a lot of it stump-to-stump and almost a war of attrition, trying to wait for a batter to make a mistake."

While Starc was happily unaware of his impending milestones on the often unforgiving pitches of the subcontinent, there are a couple of other benchmarks on the horizon that are firmly on his radar.

One is the prospect of becoming just the 18th men's Test player – and the fourth Australian behind Nathan Lyon (539), Glenn McGrath (563) and Shane Warne (708) – to reach 400 wickets.

Starc currently has 376 from his 94 games in the Baggy Green Cap, and at that career average of four per match he should notionally breach the benchmark in the third and final Test of Australia's upcoming tour to the Caribbean in July.

Coincidentally, should he remain fit, that final match of the proposed three-Test campaign – which follows the World Test Championship final against South Africa at Lord's – will also mark his 100th Test for Australia.

While 15 others have reached the century for their country, only one other fast bowler – the indefatigable McGrath (124) – has pushed his body through the gruelling workloads required to notch a ton.

Starc has developed a deservedly revered reputation for his capacity to play through pain, as was obvious at the end of the recent home Test summer when he shrugged off a rib/back complaint sustained in the fourth Test at the MCG to front up in the finale at Sydney.

He was not the only fast bowler limping to the finish line of that five-match showdown, with Australia skipper Pat Cummins (ankle), India's spearhead Jasprit Bumrah (back) and his new-ball partner Mohammed Siraj all hobbled having sent down a combined total of almost 630 overs between the four of them.

Starc claims that while his understanding of what his body can tolerate is informed by a dozen years of Test competition, he is also mindful of the foot stress fracture that forced him out of the inaugural day-night Test at Adelaide in 2015 after bowling just nine overs.

"I've been around long enough to know what I can and can't bowl through, and I've had to leave the guys a man down before, and I wouldn't do that again," Starc said.

"So if I know I can't get through with something, I won't try.

"But Sydney (earlier this month) was one I knew I was fine with."

Starc doesn't see any great symbolism in reaching 100 Tests or 400 wickets, although to scale both peaks in the same game would surely compound the achievement.

"I didn't think through my first few Test matches that I'd get anywhere near 10 Tests, let alone anywhere near 100," he said with a wry smile.

But there's one other imminent record he has both the time and acumen to avoid.

Should he score a further 56 runs he will overtake recently retired New Zealand seamer Tim Southee and move into outright third on the list of players with most Test runs without having posted a century.

Only Sri Lanka keeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella (2,757) and Warne (3,154) scored more runs without ever reaching triple figures, with both Starc (2,190) and the famed Australia leg spinner boasting highest Test scores of 99.

The fact Starc's near miss came in his 13th Test innings, on his maiden tour to India 12 years ago, meant it was viewed as inevitable he would become a Test century-maker sooner rather than later.

But in his 124 visits to the crease since then, the left-hander's best effort has been the 84 he scored against Pakistan at the MCG in 2016 with eight other totals above 50.

Starc claims he's no longer haunted by the memory of nicking off to India paceman Ishant Sharma at Mohali within the single run that would likely have earned him recognition as one of only eight men's players – and the only Australian – to combine a Test century with 400 wickets.

Instead, he hopes his wife (and Australia's incumbent women's team captain) Alyssa Healy, who also has a top Test score of 99, can go one better in the upcoming day-night Ashes fixture at the MCG.

"I think I've made peace with my 99," Starc said. "I liked to think I could get somewhere near it again, but I've probably missed the boat there.

"Now Pat (Cummins) and I fight over who's going to bat number nine and try and hide down there.

"I think Patty's probably a lot closer to a Test century than I am these days, the way he's been going about it.

"I probably had a few chances to get one or two and let them go, but it is what it is – 99 is better than zero.

"I'd take a lot more joy from Alyssa getting 100 in the pink-ball Test, then she can get off the 99 with me."

Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

First Test: January 29-February 2, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

Second Test: February 6-10, Galle (3.30pm AEDT)

First ODI: February 12, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)

Second ODI: February 14, Colombo (3.30pm AEDT)