'Outrageous': Starc, Australia's Ironman, pushes to new highs

Age is just a number if you are Mitchell Starc, and a few others in the Australia side. It became a close-run contest alongside Travis Head, but Starc was a worthy winner of the Compton-Miller medal after his Ironman performances in the Ashes.

The man who started England's problems in the first over at Perth Stadium when Zak Crawley edged to slip, claimed their final two weeks at the SCG - ending Jacob Bethell's magnificent 154 then having Josh Tongue taken at mid-off - to become the first Australia bowler with 30 wickets in a series since Mitchell Johnson in the 2013-14 Ashes.

Starc had 10 wickets after the first Test, claiming a career-best 7 for 58 on the opening day of the series, and 18 after two. That rush was not quite maintained, but his spell on the final day in Adelaide to secure the Ashes when England made Australia work should not be underestimated. Late in the Sydney Test, he was still pushing 145kph. The endurance was phenomenal.

Alongside Starc's final tally of 31 wickets at 19.93 were the two half-centuries he scored in Brisbane and Adelaide. Only eight previous players had taken 30 wickets and made two fifty-plus scores in a series. The 77 at the Gabba was brilliant tactically, too, as he and Scott Boland managed to engineer it so that Australia would bowl under lights. They took six wickets by the end of the third day and the Ashes were basically over.

"This group has shown that whilst there's so much made about our age profile at times, that experience has been a really good thing in some moments of the series," Starc, who turns 36 at the end of January, said. "I think we've seen guys prove that.

"If you're still playing your role or if you're still good enough, it shouldn't matter how old you are. Our group do that really well and tailor programs or preparation for that. We've seen the results this series. It's not always the case, but I feel like on the last day of the five-Test series, I've felt in worse condition than I have this series. So that means that the stuff I've been doing off the field is a good thing."

Alongside Starc, Boland was the other ever-present in Australia's attack, finishing with 20 wickets at 24.95 including a masterful spell against Joe Root in the second innings at the SCG. Brydon Carse also featured throughout, and was lauded for his efforts by Ben Stokes, but while he claimed 22 wickets he struggled to provide control, leaking 4.81 an over. Stokes himself made it to the fifth Test but picked up an injury.

"[Starc's] led the attack in all five games," Steven Smith said. "Him and Scotty playing all five games was a huge effort. We look at our attack and their attack. They only had Brydon Carse playing every game, everyone else went down.

"[Australia] is a tricky place to bowl fast. The amount of force these guys put through their bodies on these wickets is outrageous. To be able to come out and play five Tests the way he and Scotty did and keep backing up day in, day out and do the job was incredible."

Pat Cummins made a cameo one-Test appearance in Adelaide to help secure the Ashes, claiming six wickets in a performance that belied his five months without a competitive bowl, but Josh Hazlewood did not feature at all. Brendan Doggett made his debut in Perth and also featured in Brisbane, where Michael Neser made a stunning return to Test cricket.

Neser would go on to feature in three Tests overall, claiming 15 wickets at 19.93, while Jhye Richardson made his first appearance in four years at the MCG.

"For me, I haven't really changed anything," Starc said. "Probably a lot more made [of it] outside the group than inside, whether it be Pat and Josh, or what we have and haven't got. For me, I felt like if I could just do my role like I've tried to anyway throughout however many years, that's the best thing I could do for the team.

"As a group, we knew how good Scotty is and has been, likewise with Ness, Doggy, and Jhye in the Test he played. It wasn't about [me] doing more, it was probably more about doing the good stuff for longer and whether things are going well or not, not getting too high, too low. I'm very pleased to have played that role as best as I could through the series."

Starc has never made a secret of Test cricket being his priority and his T20I retirement was part of that. He is expected to briefly appear for Sydney Sixers in the BBL next week after a gap of 11 years before a lengthy break. There's no doubt he will be around for the start of Australia's mega run of Tests from August this year and, though he was reluctant to think ahead too far, a dip at the elusive double of winning in India and England in 2027 appears realistic

"We've had two really good chances in England to win, we haven't, we've retained [the Ashes]," he said while sat next to Smith. "I've been on plenty of England and India tours with Steve. So if we both get to go on those tours in '27, it'd be lovely to tick them off, but we've plenty of cricket before.

"Let's not look too far ahead. I'm not a great reflector, but I'd love to just, as a group, reflect on such a good series. Obviously, a great week for Uzzie [Khawaja]. It's been a very busy summer, but a very successful one, so a chance to reflect together is one thing that we all need right now."