Starc reminder of Homebush alumni’s all-round ability
Revered as a fast bowling great, Mitchell Starc showed other attributes when going through the NSW public school system. Glenn Cullen reports.
05 December 2025
The most successful left-arm fast bowler in the history of Test cricket was once a wicketkeeper at Homebush Boys High School on Wangal land.
Mitchell Starc claimed the "world's best" mantle on Thursday in the second Test against England, surpassing Pakistan’s Wasim Akram for the marker when he took his 415th wicket.
In a superlative Test career spanning 14 years, seemingly getting better with age, Starc finished with 6-71 on the first day of the second Ashes test against England at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Despite looking every inch a fast bowler with a rangy, athletic frame, Starc initially found being behind the stumps more to his liking.
Playing at Lidcombe Public School and then at Homebush Boys High School, Starc was a Primary School Sports Association (PSSA) representative and mostly a wicketkeeper until his early teens.
That all changed when renowned coach Neil D’Costa saw him as a 14-year-old with the revered talent-spotter converting him to a fast bowler.
It was such a successful transformation that Starc would play in the NSW under 17 team and first grade with Western Suburbs while he was still at Homebush Boys High School.
Not that all his school teammates were equally as enthused.
“In the end when he was playing for the school, the ‘keeper couldn’t keep to him he was bowling so fast,” his HSC English teacher Cheiban Elaro recalled.
“But he was such a wonderful young man. Calm and very humble, with a good group of friends.”
Earlier, Starc had also showed his leadership qualities, captaining Lidcombe Public School.
He set a good example there for his younger brother Brandon, who would go on from Lidcombe to Hills Sports High School and become a three-time Olympic high jumper and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner.
With seemingly plenty more to give in the sport, Starc could well end up with more than 500 wickets by the time he retires.
That would place him in the top 10 of all time; a mark teammate and former Menai High School student Steve Smith would be eyeing off in the batting ranks as he also closes in on becoming Australia’s second-highest Test run scorer.
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