Mitchell Starc Ends Year with an Extraordinary World Record

Although England were unable to secure a victory in the match, their determined performance on a bowler-friendly Melbourne wicket narrowed the Ashes series deficit against Australia. With their triumph in the fourth Test, England reduced the series score to 3–1, despite the hosts having already secured the series. The match was decisively concluded on Saturday, just on the second day, but the Test will be remembered for Australia’s pacer Mitchell Starc achieving a remarkable world record.

In the 2025 calendar year, Starc not only claimed the highest number of Test wickets but also set a new global benchmark for the lowest strike rate among bowlers taking at least 50 wickets in a year. Although one more match remains in the ongoing Ashes series, the upcoming Sydney Test, scheduled from 4 January, will fall into the next calendar year. Consequently, the 2025 Test season has effectively concluded for both England and Australia.

The 35-year-old Starc ended the year with 55 wickets in red-ball cricket. Until now, the record for taking 55 wickets in a single calendar year while maintaining a strike rate below 30—29.5, to be precise—was held solely by Pakistan legend Waqar Younis, set in 1993. Starc shattered this 32-year-old record, achieving the same number of wickets at a strike rate of 28.3.

There is a slight difference in the number of matches played: Starc reached this milestone across 11 Tests, whereas Younis had taken 55 wickets in just 7 Tests. In terms of total wickets in a single calendar year, Starc ranks behind several greats. Australian spin legend Shane Warne tops the list with 96 wickets in 15 Tests in 2005, followed by Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed 90 wickets in 11 Tests in 2006. Other bowlers who have taken 80 or more Test wickets in a single year include Australia’s Dennis Lillee (85), South Africa’s Allan Donald (80), and Muralitharan again (80).

Despite these numbers, it is Starc’s exceptional strike rate that ensures 2025 will be remembered as a landmark year in his career and a historic moment for world cricket.

Top Calendar-Year Test Wicket-Takers (Selected)