Australia’s most prolific T20 fast bowler Mitchell Starc retires from T20I cricket, choosing to focus on extending his Test career and targeting the 2027 ODI World Cup.
The 35-year-old last played a T20I at the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean and bows out with 79 wickets, the most by an Australian quick in the format. Only Adam Zampa, with 130, has taken more. Starc was central to Australia’s breakthrough men’s T20 World Cup win in 2021, when his new-ball spells laid the platform for their title run.
Across his career, Starc has been unflinching in prioritising international cricket, even skipping the IPL at his peak before finally cashing in during the last two seasons. His decision to step away from T20Is mirrors a broader trend among Australia’s golden generation — David Warner’s retirement from all formats, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell from ODIs, and Pat Cummins’ limited one-day appearances.
For Starc, the focus is firmly on the long game. He recently became only the fifth Australian to take 400 Test wickets, doing so in his 100th Test, and has set his sights on another Ashes tour and the chance to become a three-time ODI World Cup winner in 2027. By then, he will be nearing 38.
Starc explained that stepping away from T20 internationals was the best way to stay fresh and prolong his career in the formats he values most. The left-arm quick has time and again dropped hints suggesting that T20 cricket was not his priority ever.
He emphasized that Test cricket has always been his top priority, while also keeping an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Retiring from T20Is, he felt, would give him the best chance to remain fit and at his peak for major Test tours, future Ashes battles and the long-term ODI challenge, while also allowing Australia’s bowling group more time to prepare for the next T20 World Cup.
Starc’s departure leaves a significant gap in Australia’s T20 bowling attack ahead of next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. With Cummins also battling a back injury, the selectors’ attention will turn to a cluster of quicks vying for spots.
Johnson offers the closest like-for-like option with his left-arm pace and hostility. He has 12 wickets in six T20Is since 2024 at a strike-rate of 9.5, including a five-for against India.
Dwarshuis brings another left-arm angle and has impressed in 2025, taking 13 wickets in seven games at 19.00, with a best of 4/36.
Nathan Ellis is the most experienced of the contenders in recent years and also the most potent to partner the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. Since 2024 he has played 15 T20Is, taking 19 wickets at 20.52 while maintaining a tidy economy of 7.45.
Bartlett is the youngest of the group and has made a strong case in 2025, with 13 wickets in eight matches at 15.46 and an economy of 7.26. His ability to swing the new ball is particularly valuable in subcontinental conditions. He has also been recalled to the T20I squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
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Josh Hazlewood and Cummins remain the senior figures, but they alone cannot replicate Starc’s combination of pace and new-ball threat. The competition among Johnson, Dwarshuis, Ellis and Bartlett will shape Australia’s seam attack as they recalibrate for the T20 World Cup tilt without their spearhead.
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