Starc signs with Sixers after six-year BBL absence

Australia's best T20 bowler is set to break a six year KFC BBL drought after the Sydney Sixers announced they have signed pace ace Mitchell Starc for the closing stages of the tournament.

Starc spurned at least one offer from another club as he elected to return to the Sixers for what will be his first appearances since BBL|04. Should he be cleared to play following a demanding home international campaign against India, the left-armer marks an enormous coup for the reigning champions.

Following the end of the fourth Test against India on January 19, Starc expects to be available for at least the Sixers' games against the Hurricanes on January 24 and the Stars on January 26 before the finals start on January 29.

The Sixers also play cross-town rivals the Thunder on January 22.

Starc's signing is a welcome injection of local star power for the league following fellow Sixer Steve Smith's recent admission that he will not feature in this year's BBL.

No Australian has a better T20 bowling average (minimum 30 games) than Starc's 17.78, a figure that puts him, statistically, among the greatest T20 bowlers ever.

But as a key figure in Australia's Test attack as well as their No.1 ODI bowler, Starc has been rarely sighted in his home country's T20 league. He has played more games in the now defunct Champions League (11 matches) and as many in county cricket for Yorkshire (10) as he has in the BBL (also 10).

The presence of his wife and Australia women's wicketkeeper, Alyssa Healy, at the Sixers’ WBBL team also influenced his decision to stay in magenta.

"I haven't played in the BBL for five years now and I'm still in close contact with the guys who play at the Sixers, obviously Alyssa plays for the Sixers so I have a close connection with the club," said Starc, who helped the club to the inaugural BBL crown back in 2012 and then the Champions League title later that year.

"It was a great opportunity to be back around the guys I'm really close to at New South Wales and get involved with some great people at the Sixers. It's a great club.

"It presented a bit of an opportunity at the back end of the summer with the (international) white-ball stuff being played before the Tests. It's a nice little opportunity to play T20 cricket at the end of the Test series as well."

While Smith has ruled himself out for a BBL stint this summer, the Sixers did welcome him as well as Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood for their successful BBL|09 tilt earlier this year.

Hazlewood, however, may be among the all-format stars in a similar boat to Smith given he has also gone straight from a hub for Australia's white-ball tour of England in September-October to the Indian Premier League bubble in the UAE, all before the bumper home series against India.

Starc, on the other hand, had elected to skip the IPL – even before the pandemic hit – in a bid to recharge and spend time with wife Healy.  

Only time will tell whether that leaves him fresher once the India tour has concluded (he has ended up in a bubble anyway, admittedly a less restrictive one for the ongoing Marsh Sheffield Shield) and the 30-year-old was understandably hesitant to declare himself a certain starter for the Sixers when he becomes available in January.

"Looking at the fixtures, there's definitely the last two games (of the regular season) before the finals that the (Australian) guys are available for," he said.  

"I'm still really keen to pull on the magenta, (but) there's a lot of cricket to go between now and then. That's assuming I play four Test matches.

"The way of the world at the moment is pretty much week-by-week, so I'm not looking too far ahead."

Spending some time in Sydney also remains a priority for the home-starved Starc.

Having returned from the UK last month, he went straight into two weeks of hotel quarantine in Adelaide, linked up with Healy in Brisbane during the women's international series against New Zealand, and then spent barely a night in his own bed as he swapped his Australian clothes and equipment out for NSW's Shield kit before returning to Adelaide.

Big Bash officials are hopeful the easing of state borders will allow games to be played in Sydney in the New Year. The first 21 matches of the season will be played in Canberra, Tasmania, Brisbane and Adelaide.

"That's the hope of everyone really, not just the sporting world, but around Australia as things continue to improve as they have the last days and weeks, hopefully that sense of some sort of normality returns," said Starc.

"Who knows, come January, if things are going really nicely and settled in Australia then hopefully that sense of normality comes back."