Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc – a name that strikes fear into the hearts of contemporary batsmen. It is hard to fathom that the tall and skinny lad from Sydney, who was once an aspiring wicketkeeper in junior cricket, would one day become the most menacing sight for the world's best batsmen.
Legend has it that a tall, lanky 14-year-old was spotted by a club coach trying out as a wicketkeeper for the Western Suburbs. He pulled the young man aside and demanded that he ditch the wicketkeeping mitts – and that he would teach him how to bowl. The AFL's fabled method of scouting a body-type and building a particular skill around it seemed to be at work again, as it tends to work in favour of the player's ability and aptitude.

It is a tried and tested method. Case in point: three decades ago, Dennis Lillee, then in charge of the MRF pace foundation, told a 14-year-old Indian boy of short stature that he couldn't be a fast bowler. Following the incident, the aspiring fast bowler changed lanes and took up batting. We all know how that turned out...

Starc, the teenager, seemed to have grasped fast-bowling quite quickly, picking up the fundamentals from the aforementioned coach, Neil D'Costa, and bowling at 135km/h by the time he was 16. In addition to athletic ability, he was said to have great discipline and an undying thirst for knowledge. Most crucially, however, he was a great listener, according to D'Costa. Soon after, he was selected for the New South Wales U-17s, and continued to rise through the ranks.