With his tally of 433 Test wickets in 105 matches, Australian pacer Mitchell Starc currently sits 12th in the all-time list of leading wicket-takers in Test cricket. With Australia set to face Bangladesh in a two-Test series later this month, the 36-year-old is poised to overtake former Indian captain Kapil Dev’s tally of 434 Test wickets and former South African pacer Dale Steyn’s tally of 439 Test wickets to enter the top ten. Starc said it was humbling to be mentioned alongside such greats and that it means he has played a bit.
“It means I’ve played a bit. It is cool and very humbling to be spoken about with those guys. But that stuff doesn’t mean a whole lot while you’re still playing. You don’t get too far ahead,” Starc told the Australian Associated Press.
In the current World Test Championship cycle, Starc is the leading wicket-taker with 46 wickets in eight matches. He was also the leading wicket-taker in the 2025-26 Ashes against arch-rivals England. His current tally of 433 wickets means only three Australians have bagged more Test wickets – Shane Warne (708), Nathan Lyon (567), and Glenn McGrath (563).
Starc spoke about his mindset and the importance of continuous improvement. “When you’re 36 and you’ve been around for 16 years, you’d like to think you’ve improved or got better at something. You’re also around that long because you’re able to develop and learn and improve. And you add in a few things like the wobble seam, consistency and other things. I have a pretty clear mindset on it all,” he added.
Australia will play Bangladesh in the first Test at Darwin starting August 13. After that, they will play a three-Test series in South Africa, followed by a four-Test series against New Zealand and five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India.
Last year, Starc took 55 wickets at an average of 17.32, his best-ever average in a calendar year. Since 2022, he has picked up a total of 164 wickets in 41 Tests. Reflecting on his approach, he said: “Excuse my language, but it’s just been letting shit go. You’re never as good or bad as you think or other people think you are. I still moan and whinge about anything that goes wrong or feels wrong. Even heading into (last) summer, it didn’t feel like it clicked until the day before the Ashes. But I think what’s been a feature of our group and led by Ron (Australia head coach Andrew McDonald) and Pat (Cummins), is that whether it’s a good day, bad day, good over, bad spell, it’s done. Move on. What can you change in real time?”