It was right that Mitchell Starc should clean up the last two English wickets of this Ashes. Right, too, that Travis Head should mop up a few more runs, but for all of the enjoyment that Head brings with his Jayasuriya-lite batting and his Boon-lite persona, the difference in the series has been the other left-hander. The fifth morning of the Sydney Test took Starc to 31 wickets at 19, and crossing 30 is the stuff of great Ashes series. Sixteen other Australians have done it, a list mostly comprised of players who only need be identified by surnames.
In the manner of schoolteachers meeting you as an adult, some people are stuck with a memory of Starc as he was at the beginning: a lanky possessor of promise with the risk of being wayward, expensive or injured. In the manner of truly fast bowlers, he is seen as part animal, part force of nature: his feats are elements unleashed, not the work of brain and skill. He is admired for that while still viewed as livestock. Like, Gandalf’s horse is awesome, but it’s still a horse.
