Cricket: Starc 'gets better every time he bowls' - Aussie great

Mitchell Starc in action during the second test at the Waca. Photo / Getty

Australia's new pace spearhead has received a solid endorsement from one of the fastest bowlers of them all.

Mitchell Starc takes over the mantle of leader of the pace pack from the now retired Mitchell Johnson in the deciding third test against New Zealand starting on Friday.

At Perth in the second test, rangy left armer Starc was clocked at delivering a ball at 160.4km/ph to Ross Taylor, making it the quickest recorded in a test, although those speed marks are all suspect due to the differing standards of equipment used to monitor them.

Two things, however, are not in dispute - Starc is seriously quick, and Jeff Thomson was among the fastest of the fast men in his heyday in the second half of the 1970s.
For Thomson, who took 200 wicket in 51 tests at 28, the purity of Starc's bowling action reminds him of himself.

The mechanics of his action have convinced Thomson that Starc is a legitimate contender to be among the very fastest.

"If you bowl with a proper action the better you get. He's gotten better every time he bowls," Thomson said.

"(When I was at my fastest) it was like smooth as silk. It was like I wasn't even trying. It was coming out like a rocket without even trying."

Thomson, who terrorised England with fellow quick Dennis Lillee in 1974-75, bowled with a slinging, javelin action which when all the components were in sync was a terrifying sight.
He bowled a delivery at 160.6km in 1976, although is certain he was significantly faster, but handicapped by flawed testing.

"I like him," Thomson, now coaching fast bowling in India, said of Starc.

"He swings the ball, has big pace and bounce and he can bat a bit if he works on it.

"He's just a good athlete so that's the main thing you've got to be. He's made it because of that and his ability."

Starc's bowling showed up deficiencies in Australia's other injury-prone fast bowlers such as James Pattinson and Pat Cummins.

Pattinson, sidelined for the last year and a half, is back in Australia's 13 for the Adelaide test; Cummins is out of action again.

"Starc now has got to do what Johnson was doing. He's got to be the mainstay in the attack. He's the front man. He's a good enough bowler, and a good cricketer so it'll be interesting to see what happens."