Follow UsIt was 12 years ago that Mitchell Johnson put up arguably the single most terrifying and extraordinary performance by any bowler in a series this century, taking 37 wickets at an average of 13.97 to terrorise England. To this very date, that Ashes series, which Australia won 5-0, is known as ‘Johnson’s Ashes’.
But would you dare to believe that one Test into the 2025/26 Ashes, Mitchell Starc has ALREADY managed to achieve something Johnson wasn’t 12 years ago?
Indeed, without Pat Cummins and without Josh Hazlewood, Starc has managed to produce the BEST PERFORMANCE of his career to single-handedly dismantle England in Perth.
He’s taken a 10-wicket haul in the Test, making him the first Australian pacer this century to take a 10-fer in an Ashes Test. Indeed, Johnson never managed this feat, and the last Australian pacer to achieve this feat was Craig McDermott back in 1991.
What’s more, Starc’s 10-fer in this Test is the first 10-fer by an Australian bowler in 20 years, with the last being Shane Warne’s 12-fer at The Oval in 2005.
10-wicket hauls by Australian bowlers in Ashes (since 2000)
Shane Warne 11/229 at The Oval, 2001
Shane Warne 10/162 in Birmingham, 2005
Shane Warne 12/146 at The Oval, 2005
Mitchell Starc 10/78 in Perth, 2025
At the time of writing this report, Starc has taken 39 wickets in 2025, remarkably at an average of 15.02. Earlier this year, against the West Indies, he also took the quickest 5-fer in Test history, needing just 15 balls to take 5 wickets.