Mitchell Aaron Starc (born 30 January 1990) is an Australian international cricketer who plays for the Australian national team and New South Wales in domestic cricket. A left-arm fast bowler and a lower order left-handed batsman, he is Australia's fourth highest wicket-taker in both Test and One Day International (ODI) cricket.
Starc began playing international cricket in 2010, but the early part of his career was disrupted by persistent injuries. He came to worldwide attention as a prominent member of the Australian squad that won the 2015 Cricket World Cup, and was declared Player of the Tournament as a result of his consistent performances throughout the matches. He also was a part of the team that won the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. At the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he picked up 27 wickets, which is an all-time record for the most wickets taken in a single edition of the tournament. In doing so, he became the leading wicket-taker in successive Cricket World Cup tournaments, having previously achieved the feat in 2015 as well. As of November 2023, he is the 3rd-highest wicket taker of all time in ICC Cricket World Cups.
He is the fastest bowler in the history of ODI cricket to reach 150 and 200 wickets, taking 77 and 102 matches respectively to reach the milestone. He is also the fastest bowler in the history of Cricket World Cups to reach 50 wickets, taking just 19 WC games to reach the milestone. Starc was also a key member of the Australian team that won the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, and the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final. He is one of five players who have managed to win an ICC trophy in all three formats of the game.
Starc has been noted for his ability to bowl at great pace, with his fastest delivery being measured at over 160.4 km/h (the fastest ever recorded in a Test match), and for generating reverse swing with his bowling.
Starc started playing cricket from a young age, at 9 years old for Northern Districts as a wicket keeper. He was a representative cricketer of the Northern Districts Cricket Association and attended Homebush Boys High School, representing the school's 1st grade cricket team. He is also a former junior cricketer for the Berala Sports Cricket Club in Sydney, where he was known to wicket keep and bowl in the same innings.
Starc had a rookie contract with New South Wales for the 2008/09 summer, and in February 2009 was brought into their squad to replace Aaron Bird after Bird was suspended for having an illegal bowling action. He made his first-class debut in New South Wales' final match of the season on 5 March 2009 against Western Australia. The match was drawn and New South Wales finished on the bottom of the ladder for the 2008–09 Sheffield Shield season as a result.
Western Australia approached Starc to recruit him for their team in the 2009/10 season, but he already had a contract with New South Wales and stayed with them instead. In eight Sheffield Shield games through the season, he took 21 wickets, including a best of 5 for 74 against Queensland, and scored a half-century against Victoria. Starc was selected to play for the Australian Institute of Sport in 2010, where his bowling helped the team to win the Emerging Players Twenty20 Trophy over teams from India, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Throughout his cricket career, Starc has been signed to play for multiple franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but due to injuries and commitments to the Australian national team, he has missed more seasons than he has played. As of 2025, the only three franchises he has played for are Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals. He joined the Knight Riders for a record-breaking transfer.
In 2014, Starc was signed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore to play in the 2014 IPL. In a match against Kings XI Punjab, Starc took two diving catches near the boundary to dismiss Glen Maxwell and Wriddhiman Saha. Starc used a different method to most Australian cricketers to take these catches, with his fingers pointed down instead of up. Starc said of this, "Back home, most players favour the reverse cup method and some also say it is easier to get into the right position. But I have been used to the other method since childhood and it has stayed with me." In a match on 6 May against Mumbai Indians, Starc got involved in an altercation with Mumbai batsman Kieron Pollard. In the 17th over of Bangalore's innings, Starc bowled a bouncer to Pollard which Pollard failed to hit, after which the two players exchanged words. While Starc was in his run-up for the next delivery, Pollard pulled away from the crease, expecting Starc to abort his run-up. Instead of aborting, Starc followed Pollard and bowled the ball at his legs. Pollard swung his bat, threatening to throw it at Starc, and it slipped out of his hand and went to the leg side. Both players were fined a portion of their match fee (Starc 75% and Pollard 50%) and charged with offences under the IPL's code of conduct, with Starc charged with "conduct that either (a) is contrary to the spirit of the game; or (b) brings the game into disrepute." Public reaction to the altercation was overwhelmingly negative. ESPNcricinfo editor Nagraj Gollapudi opined that both players were let off leniently, as the punishment in the code of conduct could have been up to 100% of their match fee as well as a two-match ban. Ravi Shastri, then a member of the IPL governing council, warned that repeat incidents could result in match bans and fines of double the players' match fees.
Starc's start to the 2015 season was delayed due to a knee injury which kept him in Australia. Before Starc's arrival, Bangalore were at the bottom of the IPL table, but when Starc returned he took the lead of Bangalore's bowling and turned the team around. Royal Challengers Bangalore only lost one of their next seven matches, and Starc finished the tournament with 20 wickets. He missed the IPL in 2016 because of a foot fracture injury and in February 2017 parted ways with Royal Challengers Bangalore in order to reduce his workload and focus on his fitness for the upcoming 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
In January 2018, Starc was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for the equivalent of A$1.8 million, the second most of any Australian player bought in the 2018 auction, but he never played a match for the team. He was ruled out of the 2018 Indian Premier League due to injury, having tibial bone stress in his right leg sustained in a Test series against South Africa. The 2019 Indian Premier League was set to take place immediately before the 2019 Cricket World Cup, and Cricket Australia decided not to grant no objection certificates to players. This meant that any players selected to play in the World Cup would have been expected to leave the IPL early to join a pre-tournament camp. In November 2018, Kolkata released Starc from his contract, freeing him up to spend time preparing for the World Cup. Kolkata's decision was believed to be a result of Cricket Australia's refusal to make Starc available for the whole IPL season. Starc had taken insurance for his contract Kolkata, which would have entitled him to A$1,530,000 after missing the 2018 season because of injury, but the insurance company declared him ineligible and refused to pay. In 2019 Starc took legal action against the insurance company to recoup his losses.
Starc pulled out of the 2022 season, citing "bubble fatigue" as a reason. He decided to return for the 2024 season and was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for ₹24.75 crore (A$3.7 million) on 19 December 2023, breaking the record for most expensive buy in the history of IPL auctions, and played in his first IPL since 2015, and on 26 May 2024, Starc bowled 3 overs, taking 2/14 in the eight wicket victory of Kolkata Knight Riders against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Tata IPL Final.
Starc was bought by Delhi Capitals to play in 2025 Indian Premier League for ₹11.75 crore (£920,000). And on 30 March 2025, He took 5/35 leading Delhi Capitals to win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.