AUS vs ENG: "Test Always Far Above The White Ball Cricket"- Mitchell Starc Ready To Retire From White-ball Cricket For Longer Test Career

Mitchell Starc has said that test cricket is “way above” the other forms, and he plans to retire from playing white-ball cricket gradually so that he may continue playing red-ball cricket.

The 32-year-old Starc was a fixture in Australia’s Test team last season during the Ashes series and the subsequent visits to Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

He now has his sights set on a second lengthy stint in the format, beginning the following week in Perth against the West Indies, the first five home Tests, then four in India, a potential World Test Championship final, and the Ashes in England.

Mitchell Starc Looking For Longer Test Career

The ODI World Cup in India the following year will also be crucial to Australia’s strategy, but Starc also said he still has optimism of competing in the 2024 T20 World Cup despite being left out of the most recent tournament.

“Tests always first…far above white-ball [cricket],” he said after the second ODI against England. “I’ll decide on the rest as I go, where my body is at and how I feel about it. I would love to, selection and form pending, continue playing Test cricket as long as I can.”

Starc decided against playing in the IPL because he wanted to be as fresh as possible for Test cricket. Given the demanding international schedule, he claimed it is difficult to play every match in every format, and he hinted that the game may soon be discontinued.

“It’s certainly impossible at the moment to play every game as a three-format player,” he said. “We’ve seen that over the last few years, sometimes there are two Australian teams playing at the same time in different continents in different formats. They see a break and put a series on.

I think having those periods of time to rest may help me keep bowling at decent speeds for a period of time. I don’t think playing three formats is something I can [continue] for a long period of time moving forward now.”

It’s A Busy Schedule For Players And Staff And Fans: Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc also expressed pity for the supporters after attendance figures of 15,420 and 16,993 at the games in Adelaide and Sydney sparked further discussion about the busy schedule and the future of the ODI format.

“There’s a game every day,” he said. “It’s not for me to sit here and decide on a schedule but it is what it is. We’ve come off a T20 World Cup into a three-match one-day series into five Tests, the WBBL is heading into finals at the minute, then you’ve got BBL, we go to India for Tests and white-ball [cricket], the girls have got a T20 World Cup into IPL.

How do you ask people to go spend 400-500 bucks at a day of cricket three days a week? It’s a busy schedule for players and staff and fans.”

We Are Pretty Comfortable With Where We At: Mitchell Starc

Australia’s quicks are getting their Test preparation from the current ODI series against England, another effect of the packed schedule, although they are getting used to not playing four days of cricket and some even think it provides for a more controlled build-up.

“It’s not anything new for us players, particularly us bowlers,” Starc said. “We’re all very experienced and know what we need. I guess that’ll be shown in the Test matches, but in terms of the preparation, we’re pretty comfortable with where we are at.

“If we’re playing Shield games, I certainly don’t want to be managed on the number of overs I have to bowl. If I’m there to play the game, and if I need to bowl more, I prefer to bowl more. It has happened in the past where I’ve been dragged out of the first innings and not been able to take part in the second innings.”

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