More than seven years after he collected his first Test wicket at the Gabba, pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has belonged to the 17th Australian to record 200 Test wickets after knocking on day one of the series openers against Sri Lanka at the same venue on Thursday.
The 28-year-old, who got in his 50th Test one shy of the special milestone, scalped the wicket of Suranga Lakmal to enter the illustrious club. With his 200th wicket, Starc has compared with former right-hand fast bowler Jeff Thomson, who played 51 Tests.
Starc’s first wicket in the longest format was former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum. He has been most fortunate against Dimuth Karunaratne of Sri Lanka, Murali Vijay of India and English pair Alastair Cook and Jonny Bairstow.
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The paceman’s strike rate of 51.2 is the second-best by any Australian with 200 or more wickets, behind his former teammate Mitchell Johnson’s 51.1.