The highly anticipated Ashes series between Australia and England is set to begin on November 21 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Australia are missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at least for the first Test and in their absence, Mitchell Starc will have to lead the inexperienced pace attack from the front. With a massive responsibility on his shoulders, Starc is also aiming to become the most prolific left-arm fast bowler in the history of Test cricket.
The veteran has picked up 402 wickets so far in 100 Tests (192 innings) at an average of 27.02 with 16 five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket match hauls. He needs only 13 wickets to go past Wasim Akram and become the left-arm fast bowler with the most wickets in Test cricket history. Akram accounted for 414 wickets during his illustrious career in the whites in 104 Tests (181 innings) at an average of 23.62 with a stunning 25 five-wicket hauls and five 10-wicket match hauls.
Whenever he gets to the milestone, it will be a massive achievement for Mitchell Starc as only 15 left-arm fast bowlers, apart from him, have picked up 100 or more wickets in their Test career. He has accounted for 97 wickets against England in the longest format so far and can easily be expected to pick 13 wickets in the upcoming Ashes series.
Most wickets by left-arm fast bowler in Tests
| Players | Wickets |
| Wasim Akram (Pakistan) | 414 |
| Mitchell Starc (Australia) | 402 |
| Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) | 355 |
| Trent Boult (New Zealand) | 317 |
| Mitchell Johnson (Australia) | 313 |
| Zaheer Khan (India) | 311 |
Starc ready to bear extra responsibility in Perth
Mitchell Starc, meanwhile, is expected to lead from the front with the ball as Brendan Doggett and Scott Boland are the other fast bowlers, with Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood unavailable due to injuries. He is ready to take the extra burden and also praised Boland and Doggett.
"I think we're all pretty clear on what our roles are. Obviously I've got a little bit more experience there. Scotty's been around for a fair while now, so it's not like I'm telling him what to do. We've got Patty in the sheds with us anyway. So yeah, I may take on a little bit of an experienced role, if you like. But we've all been around the traps for a while, so it's just staying together as a group," Starc said.
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