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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting was left thoroughly impressed with Mitchell Starc's performance in the first three Ashes Tests and lavished praise on him. Notably, Starc has racked up a total of 22 scalps in just six innings in the series so far and has been nothing short of a nightmare for the opposing England batters. He has undoubtedly been Australia's top bowler and has taken up the responsibility of clinching wickets regularly in the absence of both Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.
Ponting hails Starc's performance
Ponting labelled Starc's performance in the Ashes as "outstanding" and remarked that he hasn't seen him bowl better. He further pointed out how the left-arm pacer has managed to become a more complete bowler in recent times.
“I don't think I've seen him bowl better. It really has been quite outstanding what he's done with the new ball. You know, he's always been known as a brand new ball bowler, and then someone that was a good bowler with the old ball, the ball that was reverse swinging. But he's added a few different dimensions to his game, a few different skills which have made him a more complete bowler,” Ponting said on the ICC Review.
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Ponting also highlighted how Starc has developed his bowling skills over the years, pointing out that he doesn't rely on a set of deliveries to clinch wickets and has multiple weapons in his arsenal.
“You know, he just doesn't rely on that big in-swinger now to a right-hander. He's got the wobble seam delivery that goes across the right-hander and gives him a lot more consistency. So he knows he can bowl that ball pretty much at will. He knows the line and length that it's going to be delivered at. And then his big strike weapon is still the fuller in-swinging ball to the right-handers,” Ponting added.
Starc's brilliant run in The Ashes so far
Starc made a phenomenal start to the Ashes and racked up 10 wickets in the first Test in Perth. He followed that up by taking eight more scalps in the second Test at The Gabba before picking up four wickets in Adelaide. The 35-year-old will be looking to maintain his red-hot form in the series in the fourth Test that will be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26.
Australia's XII for 4th Ashes Test: Travis Head, Jake Weatherald, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith (c), Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Jhye Richardson.
England's playing XI for 4th Ashes Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Will Jacks, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue.
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