Mitchell Starc Joins Elite List, Becomes Fourth Australian to Claim 700 Wickets in International Cricket

Mitchell Starc joined an elusive club on Thursday (January 30) after the Australian pace spearhead claimed his 700th wicket in international cricket during the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle.

By reaching the milestone, Starc became only the fourth Australian to join the 700-wickets club in international cricket, joining some of the game's greats like Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.

The left-arm pacer achieved the feat when he struck in the fifth over after Australia had declared their innings at 654/6, their highest total on Asian soil. Starc dismissed Dimuth Karunaratne off a delivery that got some extra bounce and got the Sri Lankan opener playing it straight to Nathan McSweeney at gully.

With this, Starc completed 700 international wickets in 287 outings across the three formats at an average of 25.78, with best figures of 6/28 along with 24 five-wicket hauls and two ten-wicket hauls. Starc is now only behind three other players from the country.

Most international wickets for Australia

Shane Warne - 999 wickets in 338 matches
Glenn McGrath - 948 wickets in 375 matches
Brett Lee - 718 wickets in 322 matches
Mitchell Starc - 700 wickets in 287 matches
Mitchell Johnson - 590 wickets in 256 matches
Nathan Lyon - 570 wickets in 166 matches
Pat Cummins - 503 wickets in 214 matches
Craig McDermott - 494 wickets in 209 matches
Josh Hazlewood - 484 wickets in 215 matches
Dennis Lillee - 458 wickets in 133 matches

Starc has now claimed 377 scalps in Tests, the fourth highest for an Aussie in the format. The 35-year-old is behind Warne, McGrath and current Australian teammate in the list for most Test wickets for the country. Here is a look at the top five Aussies:

Most wickets in Tests for Australia

Shane Warne - 708 wickets in 273 innings
Glenn McGrath - 563 wickets in 243 innings
Nathan Lyon - 540 wickets in 250 innings
Mitchell Starc - 377 wickets in 181 innings
Dennis Lillee - 355 wickets in 132 innings

Starc also achieved a rare feat in international cricket as he and his partner Alyssa Healy coincidentally made their 287th international appearance at the same time. Healy featured in the one-off Test against England in the Women's Ashes on Thursday (January 30).