Bigger, faster, stronger: Starc ready to crank it up

A bulked-up Mitch Starc says his off-season in the gym and modified bowling action could see him hit the magical 100mph mark he came close to breaking five years ago.

The left-armer has put on five kilograms of muscle while training with his NSW teammates during the COVID-19 layoff, which has allowed him to rest his fatigued frame following a taxing 11-month stretch of continuous cricket ahead of a blockbuster summer against Virat Kohli's India.

Image Id: A403490E52A34B3FBB38BCC9DE6C51AD Image Caption: Starc has been setting PBs in the gym this preseason // Supplied

"At the end of summers, I've been down to 87kg at my lowest and I'm at 93kg at the moment which is where I want to be at," Starc told cricket.com.au.

"I've started summers around that 90-91kg mark so I'm in a good place now, feeling really strong.

"It's been a good amount of time in the gym and now I'm back bowling and running and have enjoyed the time at home to be able to do that and rest the aches and pains of bowling through a 11-month tour like the other boys have as well."

Image Id: 5519713841F3473FB4295F6F57F3B882 Image Caption: A bulked-up Starc at NSW training // cricket.com.au

Starc says a lack of appetite when he is bowling has been the major reason why his weight fluctuates throughout a summer, but he has made strides in that area to maintain his mass.

While the addition of extra muscle is aimed at making the 30-year-old more resilient against his gruelling workloads as a fast bowler, it is also designed to make his third and fourth spells at the end of a Test series just as fast as his opening gambit at the start of a summer.

But more weight means more force through Starc's front leg, which makes managing his mass a balancing act.

And each time Starc has let go of the handbrake, injury has tended to follow.

When Starc sent world cricket into a frenzy after bowling a 160.4kph (99.7mph) rocket against New Zealand at the WACA Ground in November 2015, he broke down the following match – the inaugural day-night Test in Adelaide – breaking his foot early in the contest.

He suffered a stress fracture in the same foot halfway through the 2017 Test tour of India, and when he cranked up the pace again against Sri Lanka in February 2019 at Manuka Oval, where his average bowling speed was a blistering 151.3kph, it left Starc with a strained pectoral muscle.

Those injuries remain in the back of Starc's mind when he considers letting loose but with a refreshed and reinforced physique, a return to those searing speeds are not out of the realms of possibility.

"It would be nice but at the same time the two occasions I've been up around that (160kph) mark I've snapped my foot," he said.

"Hopefully that's not the case but when everything's going well, that rhythm is happening and conditions suit, then I can get that speed gun up.

"Perhaps that extra time in the gym and extra time off I might be able to push the limits again."

Image Id: AAEF0362B67648388A7CB97CC9ED212F Image Caption: Starc is hopeful he can bowl even faster this summer // Getty

Starc played all five Tests last home summer but this time 12 months ago, he was not in Australia's first-choice Test XI for the Ashes in England.

Australia's bowling plan in the UK was based around control and consistency, a tactic which suited the likes of seamer Peter Siddle over speedster Starc, whose search for extra pace led to more loose deliveries.

Starc played one Test of the Ashes – the series-deciding fourth Test in Manchester where he picked up four wickets – but returned home with a muddled mind, unsure whether to focus on accuracy or bowl as fast as he could.

After a rough start to the domestic summer, Starc tweaked his action with the help of NSW Blues assistant coach and former New Zealand allrounder Andre Adams, and the adjustment saw the quick retain his extreme pace and hone his radar.

"At the start of the (2019-20) summer and after that UK tour, I very much got in that line and length (and) consistency mindset that the whole (fast bowling) group were about through the Ashes," Starc recalls.

"That's not to say that's not important, but I think I've found a happy medium with this little tweak to still have that better consistency but still have my pace.

"I still want to bowl fast and I'm not going to compromise that but I had to find a way that I wasn't expensive at the same time and I think that little tweak in the action has helped that.

"I'm still able to swing the ball and bowl decent pace and it's helped my cluster on my pitch map, which is what the group is all about as well."

And if Starc needed a reminder what his role in the Test side is, he wrote it on the strapping on his wrist, a colourful message that told him to 'F it' and bowl fast.

Image Id: A58A620CA1D64DD89E3AA2C3F34C1FB0 Image Caption: Starc's wrist-band motivation // Getty

"It's a nice simple one and when I've been at my best, I've always kept it simple," he said.

"I'm not someone who has 25 different slower balls or 25 different plans.

"It's working for me and I'll definitely be keeping that one."

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