Mitchell Starc takes two hat-tricks in same Sheffield Shield match

By Adam Ellis

Mitchell Starc has given England a sign of his red-hot form heading into the Ashes by becoming the first Australian to take two hat-tricks in a first class match in Australia.

The left-arm paceman created havoc for New South Wales in their Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia, utilising reverse-swing bowling to dismiss WA’s lower order in the first innings.

In a dramatic second innings that had the visitors cruising at 179-0, Starc combined with the rest of the Blues attack to seal a win by capturing all ten wickets for just 44 runs.

With Starc himself taking the wickets of Jason Behrendorff, David Moody’s and Jonathan Wells to claim match figures of 7-97 and for beers to follow North South Wales’ wild celebrations as they wrapped up a 171-run victory.

👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/piybiGsAtZ

— NSW Blues (@CricketNSWBlues) November 7, 2017

Entering the history books as the eighth ever player to take two hat-tricks in the same match, Starc spoke to reporters after the match to discuss the feat.

“They are taking the Mickey out of me for cleaning up the tail again, but someone’s got to do it,” Starc said.

“I am pretty sure they all know where it is going and they all keep missing it so I will keep bowling it for now.

“I was pretty happy with my rhythm yesterday and today.”

27-year-old Starc will be Australia’s premier bowler in the Ashes which begins on the 23 November at the Gabba, a venue where he has taken the second most wickets of his career behind the WACA.

And while Darren Lehmann will be impressed with Starc’s bowling and buoyed by Steve Smith‘s score of 127, the no 6 batting position continues to cause selection headaches with frontrunner Hilton Cartwright picking up a pair in the match at Sydney’s Hurstville Oval.