Star bowler leaves tour to watch wife play
AS ONE of Australia’s leading fast bowlers, he has the hopes of his country resting on his shoulders.
Yet Mitchell Starc has chosen to skip his national cricketing duties to watch his wife play instead, earning him the praise of fans.
Starc, who was the leading wicket-taker at the recent men’s ODI World Cup, was given permission to take the
“once in a lifetime opportunity” to watch Alyssa Healy in the T20 World Cup final at home in Australia today, International Women’s Day.
Starc has the full support of Justin Langer, the men’s coach, who said: “It’s a oncein-a-lifetime chance for Mitch to watch Alyssa in a home World Cup final and so we were happy to allow him to return home to support his wife and be part of a fantastic occasion.”
Fans around the world agreed. Prof Chris Semsarian, an Australian cardiologist and cricket fan, congratulated Cricket Australia for “allowing Starc time off to watch and support his wife”, a move he said “sends a powerful message”.
Sushant Chaturvedi, a New Delhi-based cricket fan and lawyer, praised the move, adding that on International Women’s Day, “messaging of this sort must be promoted in work cultures across the world”. A South African fan, CS Chiwanza, tweeted that Starc’s move was “really great stuff ”.
A poll circulated online by Ben Cameron, a sports reporter at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation found that 75 per cent of respondents approved of Starc’s decision.
The move, and the public response, reflects the growth in standing of women’s cricket.
When Belinda Clark, the Australian champion, scored the first ODI double century in 1997, it barely created a ripple in the mainstream media.
Today, players like Ellyse Perry and Healy are bona fide stars of the game and the women’s T20 league in Australia has marked a big step forward in the professionalisation of women’s cricket.
Further demonstrating the rising status of the game, Cricket Australia has pledged to pay the prize money gap if Australia wins the final.
The Australian XI will pocket 1.51million Australian dollars (£770,000) from the ICC if they win today’s decider against India, about A$900,000 short of the men’s prize money, but Cricket Australia promised last year to make up the gap.
Starc and Healy’s international schedules have reportedly made it difficult for them to spend extended time together, so much so that Starc gave up a multimillion dollar Indian Premier League contract to spend more time at home with his wife.