Daily Times

Mitchell Starc has no regrets about prioritising international cricket and family life ahead of the vast Indian Premier League riches a week after becoming the Twenty20 juggernaut’s highest-paid player.

The 33-year-old will quickly return to the IPL next year for the first time since 2015 as Australia prepares for the Twenty20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean in June.

Starc broke the record for the most expensive player in the IPL auction when bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for a staggering $4.42 million.

The massive payday broke the record set by Australian captain and fellow quick Pat Cummins just an hour earlier when Sunrisers Hyderabad picked him up. Starc has always known he was giving up millions of dollars by opting out of the IPL, but the recent windfall laid bare the money he could have earned in the past decade.

“Juggling one cricket schedule is hard enough, let alone when there’s two in a relationship,” said the left-arm, married to international women’s star Alyssa Healy. “So I’ve always spent that time away from cricket with Alyssa or with family and recharging my body to be as fit and ready as I can for Australian cricket. “I don’t regret any of it. “I think it’s certainly helped my Test cricket.

“The money is always nice and certainly was this year, but I’ve always prioritised international cricket, which helped my game. Starc’s Australia commitment has helped him stay on the park to build his pace partnership with Cummins and Josh Hazlewood into one of Test cricket’s finest. The trio and star spinner Nathan Lyon ripped through Pakistan during the first Test in Perth as Australia won by 360 runs.

All three quicks are healthy and in-form, meaning MCG hero Scott Boland will miss out on another Boxing Day Test appearance. Boland has yet to play since the third Test of the Ashes in July, and selectors will resist the temptation to include the Victorian this year. Australia is stocked with fast-bowling depth, but those on the fringe must keep biding their time.

“We look back at the Ashes, and having six tests in eight weeks is something that doesn’t happen all the time,” Starc said. “But the way we’re all feeling at the minute, we’re ready to go.

There were a few issues after the Ashes that we didn’t know about until we got home, and we managed pretty well through the World Cup. Starc will play his 84th Test on Boxing Day, taking 338 wickets at an average of 27.49. Australia has won 15 straight Tests at home against Pakistan, with their last defeat to the tourists coming at the SCG back in 1995.