Mighty Mitch Starc could trump pace greats for most bowled victims in a year

If you have been thinking to yourself that Starc has been hitting the stumps a lot this year you are right. It has happened so often, in fact, that he is on track to challenge tearaway Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar's record for the most bowled dismissals in a calendar year for a fast bowler.

The left-armer's tally of 31 bowled victims in international cricket is more than double the number snared by his nearest pace challenger, New Zealand's Trent Boult with 15.

It is almost comfortably more than any Australian has ever managed in a calendar year, beating Brett Lee's 26 in 2005 and Graham McKenzie's 25 in 1964.

Test wicketkeeper Peter Nevill's observation on Wednesday that "you don't see many bowlers hit the stumps as much as 'Starcy' does" is vindicated by his NSW teammate's record of 18 of those dismissals in one-dayers and 13 in Tests since January.

The 25-year-old's tally of 31 leaves him equal fifth in the all-time record for a calendar year, with the West Indies' Malcolm Marshall from 1984.

Given he is on track to play four more Tests this year he is well on track to overtake third-placed duo Joel Garner and Waqar Younis – the latter occupies half of the top 10 – with 32 and second-placed Waqar with 36.

He could conceivably also catch Akhtar, who in 2002 claimed an astonishing 27 bowled victims in nine Tests and 17 from 26 one-dayers.

When you include Starc's performances for Bangalore in the IPL, NSW in the Matador Cup and Sheffield Shield and also his tour match against Essex before the Ashes, his tally of bowled victims balloons to 55.

"Can you believe he does it? Well, he bowls bloody quick with the wrong arm, so of course he's got the potential to be good," said Dirk Nannes, a now-retired left-armer whose primary weapon in his limited-overs appearances for Australia was express pace.

"It's just a state of mind that he's got, that he targets the stumps. That's a good state of mind, because it's the way to take wickets.

"When you're bowling 150km/h you can afford to target the stumps, because you don't get lapped. In short-form cricket he's still taking a lot of wickets because people aren't brave enough to lap him and he's moving the ball around."

Nannes, now a pundit for ABC Radio, also said Starc's pace dissuaded most batsmen from trying to bat out of their crease to him in a bid to upset his length and negate the threat of his renowned yorkers.

Nannes said Starc was an "exceptional" bowler in one-day cricket but doubted his ability  to replicate his tally of bowled victims from 2015. He argued that Starc's goal after this year should be to improve his consistency in Tests.

"I don't think he's the finished article yet. I think he's still got a bit to go, especially in Test cricket. He talks about being patient but I don't think he's patient enough yet. But he's bloody good," he said.

Nannes argued that Starc's tactic of bowling either bouncers or yorker to the Black Caps' tail in Brisbane, and then his throw at batsman Mark Craig, which attracted a hefty fine, showed he had an ability to improve with the red ball, both when it was new and when trying to remove batsmen later in innings.

"I think he just lost his patience there a little bit. Tailenders have the right to use their bat as well. He's just got to get a bit more patient," he said.

"I think his one-day bowling is exceptional – everyone knows that – and I don't think you're going to have a better year than what he's had this year. I think he has to pick up wickets in Test matches to improve, and that's going to be through consistency and not just trying to blast people out.

"Mind you, he's bloody good. He's still young and he's bloody tall, and his action is getting a lot better as well."

WICKETS (most 'bowled' victims in a year - fast-bowlers)
44 - Shoaib Akhtar, Pak (27 from 9 Tests, 17 from 26 ODIs in 2002)
36 - Waqar Younis, Pak (14 from 9 Tests, 22 from 19 ODIs in 1990)
32 - Joel Garner, WI (20 from 14 Tests, 12 from 13 ODIs in 1984)
32 - Waqar Younis, Pak (14 from 7 Tests, 18 from 23 ODIs in 1993)
31 - Mitch Starc, Aus (13 from 9 Tests, 18 from 18 ODIs, 0 from 1 T20I in 2015)
31 - Malcolm Marshall, WI (20 from 12 Tests, 11 from 17 ODIs in 1984)
30 - Wasim Akram, Pak (11 from 5 Tests, 19 from 27 ODIs in 1992)
29 - Waqar Younis, Pak (11 from 7 Tests, 18 from 24 ODIs in 1994)
29 - Waqar Younis, Pak (9 from 12 Tests, 20 from 36 ODIs in 2002)
28 - Waqar Younis, Pak (10 from 6 Tests, 18 from 35 ODIs in 1996)

WICKETS (most 'bowled' victims in a year - Australia fast-bowlers only)
31 - Mitch Starc, Aus (13 from 9 Tests, 18 from 18 ODIs, 0 from 1 T20I in 2015)
26 - Brett Lee (13 from 11 Tests, 12 from 26 ODIs, 1 from 2 T20Is in 2005)
25 - Graham McKenzie, Aus (25 from 14 Tests in 1964)
23 - Glenn McGrath, Aus (13 from 13 Tests, 10 from 22 ODIs in 2005)
22 - Ray Lindwall, Aus (22 from 8 Tests in 1948)

WICKETS (most 'bowled' victims in 2015 - fast-bowlers)
31 - Mitch Starc, Aus (13 from 9 Tests, 18 from 18 ODIs, 0 from 1 T20I)
15 - Trent Boult, NZ (5 from 4 Tests, 10 from 17 ODIs)
12 - Dawlat Zadran, Afg (6 from 13 ODIs, 6 from 8 T20Is)
11 - Steve Finn, Eng (4 from 3 Tests, 6 from 18 ODIs, 1 from 2s T20Is); Tim Southee, NZ (2 from 4 Tests, 9 from 18 ODIs, 0 from 1 T20I)
10 - Jerome Taylor, WI (6 from 7 Tests, 4 from 12 ODIs, 0 from 1 T20I); Jimmy Anderson, Eng (9 from 11 Tests, 1 from 10 ODIs)
9 - Hamid Hassan, Afg (5 from 9 ODIs, 4 from 4 T20Is); Kagiso Rabada, SAf (0 from 1 Test, 7 from 10 ODIs, 2 from 6 T20Is); Wahab Riaz, Pak (3 from 7 Tests, 4 from 16 ODIs, 2 from 3 T20Is)

Starc's victims in 2015 internationals
Tests: Kraigg Brathwaite (WI) x2, Ben Stokes (Eng) x2, Devendra Bishoo (WI), Shannon Gabriel (WI), Shane Dowrich (WI), Jimmy Anderson (Eng), Alastair Cook (Eng), Mark Wood (Eng), Jos Buttler (Eng), Jimmy Neesham (NZ), Tim Southee (NZ).
ODIs: Steve Finn (Eng), M.S. Dhoni (Ind), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Ind), Ravi Bopara (Eng), Stuart Broad (Eng), Ross Taylor (NZ), Grant Elliott (NZ), Adam Milne (NZ), Tim Southee (NZ), Najibullah Zadran (Afg), Dawlat Zadran (Afg), Seekkuge Prasanna (SL), Josh Davey (Sco), Iain Wardlaw (Sco), Umesh Yadav (Ind), Brendon McCullum (NZ), William Porterfield (Ire), Liam Plunkett (Eng).