Mitchell Starc Reaches 450 Test Wickets In 20,577 Balls

Mitchell Starc has 450 Test wickets. He got there on day three in Gqeberha. The number beside the milestone is the one that will last. Starc needed 20,577 deliveries. Nobody has reached the mark in fewer. Glenn McGrath held the previous best at 23,474 balls, which leaves the Australian left-armer 2,897 clear of the next quickest bowler to the figure.

Mulder falls to the review

The wicket was Wiaan Mulder. It came off the last ball of the 50th over of South Africa's first innings in the second Test at St George's Park. The umpire said not out. Australia reviewed. Replays showed a spike as the ball brushed Mulder's glove on its way to the slips. The decision was reversed.

It was the first wicket of the third morning. Starc was playing his 109th Test. No left-arm bowler had previously passed 449.

Faster than McGrath by 2,897 balls

Measured in matches, Starc sits well down the order. By CricketAddictor's tally, Muttiah Muralitharan needed 80 Tests to reach 450. Ravichandran Ashwin took 89. Anil Kumble took 93. McGrath got there in 100 and Shane Warne in 101. Starc took 109.

Balls bowled tell another story. Across 20,577 deliveries he has struck once every 45.7. McGrath's route to the same haul ran nearly 3,000 balls longer. NewsBytes reports that no other bowler in the 450 group has a strike rate under 50.

Fourth Australian past 450

Starc is the fourth Australian to the mark. He is the tenth bowler in Test history to get there. The three countrymen ahead of him all finished with more.

• Shane Warne, 708 Test wickets
• Nathan Lyon, 573
• Glenn McGrath, 563
• Mitchell Starc, 450

Warne and McGrath retired in 2007. Lyon is still playing. NewsBytes has Lyon and Starc as the only active bowlers with 400 or more Test wickets, and puts Starc's best figures at 7 for 58 against England at Perth in last year's Ashes. The same breakdown gives him 89 wickets at 17.11 in day-night Tests. The gap from Starc to McGrath is 113.

Day three at St George's Park

The second Test started on 18 October. Australia won the first Test in Durban by 214 runs, so they lead the series one nil. Rain ate into the first two days. Scott Boland had taken 4 for 31 by the close of the second, with South Africa five down. Temba Bavuma then reached his fifth Test century on the third day, off 223 balls. Marco Jansen made 85 before Boland removed him.

Play had not closed when this report was filed. No close-of-play score is carried here. Australia had not batted. The match is scheduled to run to 22 October.