Mitchell Johnson backs Starc to break Steyn’s record
Nov 3, 2016 at 11:42 AM
Former Australian bowler Mitchell Johnson feels that his former teammate Mitchell Starc could break Dale Steyn’s record as he backed the 27-year old to become the next best bowler for Australia.
Starc has been the best bowler for Australia for quite a time now but the player has suffered a series of injuries which has hampered his career in the recent years. He is considered as the most lethal bowler in the world when fit but unfortunately, he has failed to play consistent cricket over the past two years.
Speaking to Fairfax Media, Johnson said, “I said to someone the other day, he will overtake Dennis and (me) and he will do that pretty quickly. He will be contesting Dale Steyn’s record. Dale has played 80-odd Tests and has 400. Starc is on that track at the moment. He is getting five wickets a Test. He has got the pace and he has got the bounce. He is going to be in his prime over the next few years which makes it even scarier.”
The highly anticipated Australian summer is set, to begin with, South Africa being the team to tour Down Under this year and Starc is yet to gain his fitness. But Johnson believes Starc is yet to his prime and he will be more lethal in the coming years.
“His (Starc’s) one-day and short-form results have been awesome but it was in Tests that he didn’t get that rhythm. He kept coming in and out of the team and he had a season, when I first came back into the team, against Sri Lanka in 2012, where he got dropped for that Boxing Day Test because they needed to rest him.” Johnson added.
35-year old believes that Starc needs to play consistent cricket to get the best out of him and hopes the young pacer do not suffer any more setbacks with injuries.
“The rotation thing was holding him back – he wasn’t getting consistent cricket. Now that he is playing and fortunately he didn’t sustain any major injury with that freak accident, he is on top of his game,” he concluded saying.