Steve Smith is Australia’s captain and one of the true superstars of international cricket.
Yet it is arguable that the two men who were absent from the side as Australia lost to the West Indies yesterday – paceman Mitchell Starc and opener David Warner – are just as valuable, taking into account all three formats.
Without Starc and Warner Australia looked far weaker on paper, and proved to be vulnerable in practice too, losing to a West Indies side who, incredibly, had won only two of its previous 22 ODIs against Australia.
Starc’s left-arm variety, intimidation factor and swing were sorely missed. The Australian attack looked solid but largely unthreatening on a Basseterre pitch which suited them, offering reasonable pace and bounce.
Starc’s replacement, Nathan Coulter-Nile, is a handy back-up, having snared 26 wickets at an average of 26 in his brief ODI career. But he struggled for direction at Basseterre and the West Indies batsmen relished facing him rather than Australia’s spearhead.
There is little doubt that Starc is Australia’s best limited-overs player. In fact, it is arguable that there is no more valuable limited-overs player than him in world cricket.
AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli are extraordinarily dominant with the blade in both ODIs and T20. Yet their batting accomplishments are being piled up in an era where it seems almost every factor in limited overs cricket falls in the favour of batsmen.
Starc is producing historic bowling numbers swimming against this tide. Batting averages and team totals have skyrocketed in recent years. Meanwhile, the Australian quick somehow has built an ODI record which would have been phenomenal even in the 1980s, when 220 was a great team total and a batting average of 35 was very good.
After 48 ODIs, Starc has 95 wickets at 19. His strike rate of 24 is unparalleled in ODI history among bowlers with more than 50 wickets to their name. He needs only to take five wickets in his next four matches to become the quickest ever to 100 ODI wickets, breaking Saqlain Mushtaq’s 21-year-old record.
In T20s, Starc is even more indispensable. The moment he was ruled out of the recent World T20 with injury Australia’s hopes of lifting the trophy were slashed from middling to nix. With 123 wickets at 17 in T20s, Starc has the greatest record by a paceman in the format’s history.
No T20 quick can match his ability to make crucial early breakthroughs. Yet he’s also arguably the finest death bowler in world T20, with his searing yorkers the best in the business.
This short-form dominance has yet to be transferred to Test cricket. But the retirement of Mitchell Johnson has made Starc significantly more valuable with the red ball. The angle, pace and bounce he provides perfectly complements the subtler, steadier skills of Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon.
Given the increasingly flat pitches being rolled out across the world in Tests, having variety and so-called x-factor in your attack is more important than ever. A Test attack of Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Peter Siddle and Chadd Sayers looks very solid and reliable.
On a seaming English wicket it would be formidable, but on a batting-friendly surface it may well lack penetration. For this reason, the Australian selectors clearly favour having at least one out-and-out strike bowler in the Test team at all times.
There is merit in such a policy, although it went awry during the Ashes when they fielded two such bowlers in Johnson and Starc, when one would have sufficed. Starc now has the perfect new ball partner in Hazlewood.
The manner in which Hazlewood suffocates top-order batsmen with his precise spells prompts them to try to score instead off the less frugal Starc. This generates greater wicket-taking opportunities for the left armer. Starc’s Test record of 91 wickets at 30 is not overly impressive.
It must be remembered however, that his first 15 Tests were broken up across at least seven or eight different stints in the team. The selectors made a mess of Starc during his first four years in the national setup, as they continually dropped, rested or rotated him in and out of the Test line-up.
When finally he was given a lengthy stint in the side, and offered a chance to build momentum, he flourished. His last ten Tests, played consecutively, saw Starc grab 41 wickets at 24.
During that period we saw evidence of the wrecking ball he can become in Test cricket.
If his body holds together, Starc may soon surpass Smith and Warner as the most valuable cricketer in not just Australia but the world.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
In the shorter formats, I don't think there's much debate at this point; I thought he was severely overrated at one point due to his carving up the West Indies in ODIs at Perth a few years ago but he does the same thing to the top sides in world cricket in less favourable conditions. While I think the flatness of test wickets is becoming a bit overstated outside of the cash cow India tours (even if last years WACA was an absolute joke), it's still a good idea to have a genuine strike bowler in the side because even on a balanced wicket with a bit in it for everyone there will be periods where the pitch isn't offering much help.
Chris Kettlewell
Roar Guru
In the early part of his test career where he was in and out the matches where he was "in" were regularly matches in tough bowling conditions where he was selected over other bowlers because of his ability with reverse swing, and then when they played in better bowling conditions they'd drop him and pick the other bowlers not so good with reverse swing. So his early record is also tainted by rarely playing in decent bowling conditions at all. He's head and shoulders the best quick in one day and T20 cricket at the moment, and if he continues this through his career could change that from just "at the moment" to "of all time". Through the Australian summer before going down injured he was head and shoulders above the rest of the bowlers in the test matches to that point too, bowling in conditions really tough for bowling for the most part. For me, Starc and Warner are clearly Australia's two most valuable players at the moment. Warner just continually makes batting look easy when all around him are struggling at the moment. Smith's form seems to have dropped off a bit from the dominant period he's had of late, but Warner just keeps going from strength to strength. And Starc is just hands down our most dominant bowler at the moment. He's the one bowler who seems to be able to be able to come up with the ripper, wicket-taking ball despite all conditions being against the bowlers. Josh Hazlewood can be consistent and when the conditions are in his favour he can be deadly. But Starc has shown the ability to be almost unplayable even in good batting conditions when everyone else is getting hammered.
Johnno
Guest
Might already be considered a better ODI left-arm fast-bowler than Wasim Akram or Mitch Johnson or Bracken or Bruce Reid. His stats in ODI'S last 12-18months have been better than Akram's and he played in a less bowler-friendly era than Wasim Akram. And Wasim Akram in ODI'S got plenty of bowling support and batting support, he played in good Pakistan ODI teams.
Ajay
Guest
I do not think there is single doubt over it . Starc is massive assest to Australia. His 10 overs often decide the course of game. First 3-4 he usually gets atleast one wicket and later his 4 death overs. Good luck with those inswinging yorkers. Am I the only one or someone else also thinks Warner is turning out to be more valuable than Smith ?
Joel
Roar Rookie
Starc with a swinging ball is terrifying. With a reverse swinging ball he's damn near unplayable
Paul D
Roar Guru
If we're talking once in a generation bowlers it's hard to go past Terry Reese, right?
The Bush
Roar Guru
I commented elsewhere that we seem to talk about once in a generation bowlers, but this isn't really the same with batsmen, or at least not to the same degree.
craig swanson
Guest
Makes you wonder about the credibility of the computer ball tracker after it predicted the delivery which bowled AB de Villiers actually missing the stumps. On a brighter note that ball by class seamer Josh Hazlewood was one of the best reverse in swingers you will ever see.
craig swanson
Guest
White ball cricket Yes. He always seems to delivery when a wicket is needed. He has possibly the best swinging yorker in all forms of cricket. The best since Waqar and Akram imo.
Paul D
Roar Guru
It does seem to be a lot easier to unearth a world class batsman than a world class bowler. Certainly in terms of scarcity I'd favour Starc as the most valuable player we have.
Dizzy Tangles
Guest
Best quick in swinging yorker on the planet no doubt
Lancey5times
Guest
Starc is the man. It would be interesting to know how many times he has struck in the first 5 overs of an ODI. Just looking at yesterday's game shows how valuable an early strike can be and he has a real habit of getting that early breakthrough. Unlike Johnson, he seems more likely to be consistently effective with a new red ball without going for too many by just being less slingy.