By the numbers, Mitchell Starc is top of the world

If you crack a window open and hear a distant rumbling, it’s nothing to do with Formula 1. It’s Mitchell Starc heading towards the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and he’s picking up speed.

Rounding out the pool stage with 4/14 against Scotland, Starc leads the 2015 World Cup with 16 wickets. Of the pack behind, all but Mohammed Shami have bowled six innings to Starc’s five.

He has the best bowling average, his wickets costing 8.5 runs each. He effectively has the best strike rate, taking a wicket every 13.8 balls. The only better strike rate belongs to Afghan batsman Nawroz Mangal, who bowled a solitary over for the tournament that saw Mitchell Marsh hole out at deep midwicket.

Even including fortunate part-timers whose overs count in single figures, Starc’s economy rate of 3.67 sits sixth overall. Drop the trundlers and he’s a literal fraction behind Afghan seamer Mirwais Ashraf (3.66) and Kiwi spinner Daniel Vettori (3.21).

(For those talking up Michael Clarke’s all-round potential, his five devastating overs against the Ghan have so far bagged him the Cup’s lowest economy rate of 2.80. Keep it going.)

The game’s biggest tournament has confirmed Starc as world-class. Everything has clicked. His run-up is smooth, his action relaxed and efficient. His approach looks effortless, yet the ball sails from his hand at 150 kilometres per hour.

Pitched short, it leaps. Pitched full, it swings and jags. That moment of ultimate bowling triumph, when the stumps splay and glowing bails shoot into the air like embers spat from a burning log: right now that is Starc’s zone. Ten of his 16 wickets this World Cup have been bowled, almost double his career rate.

It’s too early in that career for meaningful analysis: beware the perils of a small sample size. But this World Cup and its lead-up season have left some raw numbers that are too compelling to resist enjoying them while they last.

With the standard qualification of 1000 ODI deliveries, Starc currently has the best bowling average (18.62), and the best strike rate (23.1) in ODI history. Ever. That’s worth a toast, at least.

Strike rates are helped by playing comparatively little – Brett Lee in 15th is the first on that list with over 100 games. But the lowest averages include Joel Garner, Andy Roberts, Colin Croft and Dennis Lillee, greats from a low-scoring era.

Then there’s a number where sample size has no influence. Five times in his 38 games, Starc has a five-wicket haul. Wasim Akram had six in 356 games. Glenn McGrath had seven in 250.

Starc is already 10th on that list, level with Richard Hadlee from 115 games and Shaun Pollock from 303. The anomaly is enormous.

The guy likes taking bags. In a niche stat that shows his shock value, Starc has four wickets or more on debut against six other nations, a feat that only New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan has matched. Starc has best figures of at least four wickets against every team he’s played except Zimbabwe.

All this from a player who has thus far been timid and erratic in Test cricket. Starc hasn’t figured out Tests – there is comfort to the shorter game’s finite structure and clearer measures of success. But Australia hasn’t figured Starc out either – in 15 Tests he’s been dropped 13 times. Only his first two games were back-to-back.

So confused was Brendon Julian by the emergence of this left-arm stud bowler that he announced Mitchell Johnson as man of the match against Scotland. Lucky the correct Mitch was standing by.

Starc is standing by for the knockouts too, calibrated and ready to go. Australia fine-tuned a few things against Scotland, including Clarke managing Rob Taylor’s testing spell to cruise to 47.

For a while, as rain threatened to consign Australia to third place in their pool, some online commenters criticised Clarke for opening the batting in place of David Warner. It was ludicrous, especially at seven runs per over. Blame the umpires who blew 45 minutes of play for a minute’s drizzle.

Kevin Pietersen on commentary was an unlikely ally. “Pup’s not your natural aggressive player, so for him to come at the top of the order is actually brilliant for his confidence. He can just hit one through the cover for four, he can hit one off his legs for four, and every single time he times the ball well, beats the infield, it’s a boundary.”

“That just gives you confidence as a player. So for Australia going forward, their skipper coming in and striking at a hundred tonight without too much pressure is good for their game.”

The only captaincy question was around their star bowler. While trying to sink New Zealand for 150 recently, Clarke took Starc from the attack for five crucial overs. New Zealand added 39 and got close enough to win.

In this game, Scottish tailenders Josh Davey and Michael Leask enjoyed eight overs of merry run-scoring, taking 51 before the first rain delay. Only afterwards did Starc appear, wrapping up the last two wickets in four balls. That’s the kind of tournament he’s having.

Had rain affected the result, holding him back would have been the critical call. That’s also the kind of tournament he’s having. Economical, dangerous, hugely influential, and busting up a set of stumps every 14 balls. The numbers are only a side-effect.

A version of this article was first published on Wisden India.