The entire cricket community was left wondering why Mitchell Starc, Australia’s pace-bowling spearhead, was left out of the team list that was disclosed during the toss and officially confirmed his absence from Australia’s second Super 8s match against Afghanistan at the T20 World Cup 2024. The supporters of Australia were not the only ones who were confused.
True, Starc had not been at his best during the tournament; by the time he was rested for Australia’s last group-stage encounter against Namibia, he had only taken three wickets in the four matches he had played in. But many were perplexed by the choice to leave Starc out of the starting lineup, particularly considering his track record of dependability and performance in crunch times.
Starc brought up the topic during a recent conversation, hinting that he had been left out of two T20 World Cups in a row (he had been left out of the same tournament against the same opponents in the 2022 edition). His expression was clearly annoyed as he went on to explain why Ashton Agar had replaced him for the June 22, 2024, game. He clarified that the main elements driving the selection were Agar’s left-arm spinnership and the spin-friendly conditions at the Arnos Vale Ground.
“No, two consecutive World Cups. The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Starc as saying, “Just the match-up, they (team management) saw previous games on that ground in St. Vincent with spin playing a part and obviously Ash (Ashton) and the left-armer enticing them to make a change.” Starc made this statement on the Willow Talk podcast.
We were probably lost that game again due to poor fielding: Mitchell Starc
With an astounding economy rate of just 4.25 runs per over, Agar ended up being his team’s most economical bowler during the game. With reference to the left-arm spinner’s opening spell in the powerplay, in which he gave up just two runs in his opening two overs, Starc said Afghanistan was more suited to the circumstances than Australia. He pointed out that the Australians lost the game due to a few errors and collapses in the closing stages.
Starc insisted, though, that Australia’s fielding errors—three run-out possibilities, five lost catches, and a botched stumping attempt—were what really cost them the game. This effectively turned the match against India into a quarter-final, which they lost by a margin of 24 runs.
“I believe that during the powerplay, Ashton Agar bowled really brilliantly. They were definitely really good at playing spin, and they probably read the conditions a little better when they batted first than we did. They also made a few mistakes that ultimately cost us the game. We were undoubtedly cost again in that game by poor fielding. That implied that we had to defeat India, and we failed there too,” Starc continued.
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