Why Mitchell Starc in Ashes 2025-26 will surpass Mitchell Johnson of 2013-14

Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson [Source: cricket.com.au/YouTube]

The Ashes seems to reserve its fiercest theatre for an Australian left-arm quick who chooses not just to bowl, but to detonate. And when that detonation aligns with rhythm and control, any Ashes series in Australia stops feeling like a contest and starts sounding like a warning.

Mitchell Johnson did it in 2013-14, when he tore through the visiting Englishmen with an exuberant 37-wicket series haul as Australia swept the Ashes 5-0. His former protégé Mitchell Starc seems to be sprinting towards a similar path, albeit over a decade later in 2025-26 as the left-arm pace demon has already bagged two ‘Player of the Match’ awards with Australia taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Mitchell Starc tests the threshold Johnson shattered in 2013-14

Mitchell Starc has begun tuning the Ashes soundtrack back to the same left-arm chin music Mitchell Johnson once blasted at the Englishmen in Australia back in 2013-14. Moreover, he might well be edging towards a tune that even Johnson, for all his havoc, could not match.

Here, we analyze how Mitchell Starc’s 2025-26 surge places him to outmatch Johnson’s decade-old legacy.

Similar beginnings (better in fact)

Mitchell Johnson decimated England in the 2013-14 Ashes opener at The Gabba in Brisbane with an electrifying nine-wicket haul, which included the knockout blow on Day 4 as Australia took a 1-0 lead with a thumping 381-run win. Johnson also scored over 100 runs in the match, which included a testing 64 on Day 1 to lift Australia from 132-6 to 295.

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In the follow-up in Adelaide, the legendary fast bowler mutilated the visitors with a seven-fer as Australia secured a 218-run triumph to take a 2-0 lead.

Fast forward to November-December 2025, and Mitchell Starc blitzed through England in the series-opener with a match-haul of 10-113, including career-best figures of 7-58 on Day 1 in Perth. In the second Test at the Gabba, the 35-year-old picked up 6-75 in the first innings, eight for the match, and scored a courageous 77 with the bat as Australia routed England by eight wickets for the second time in succession.

Mitchell Johnson in 2013-14 vs Mitchell Starc 2025-26 after first two Tests:

All in all, both Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc started off their dominant Ashes campaigns, a decade apart, headlining Australia’s 2-0 lead with two ‘Player of the Match’ awards. Apart from unleashing chaos with the ball, both Johnson and Starc also scored a match-winning fifty each within the first couple of Tests.

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Some might even argue that Starc’s early burst, given the context and opposition preparedness a decade later, already reads a touch sharper than Johnson’s opening act.

Mitchell Starc relies on variation, not just velocity

Mitchell Johnson bullied England with chest-high thunderbolts for two months straight during the 2013-14 Ashes in Australia. Mitchell Starc, however, often pairs his pace with late swing, cutters and reverse movement, either with the red ball or with the pink cherry under lights.

If both operate at their impervious best, Starc is slightly harder to premeditate and nearly impossible to line up against once the ball begins to talk. Moreover, the active Australian paceman even forced England’s tried-and-tested ‘BazBall’ to retreat at the Gabba, prompting the visitors to bat with a run rate of 3.19 in the second gig instead of their usual motoring pace between 4.50 and 5 runs an over.

With three more Tests remaining and with momentum on his side, Mitchell Starc now has the stage to stretch this domination into something the Mitchell Johnson of 2013-14 only hinted at.

Mitchell Starc striving with a depleted Australian attack

Back in the 2013-14 Ashes, Mitchell Johnson traumatised England while operating alongside the likes of Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and legendary off-spinner Nathan Lyon. While Mitchell Starc has forged an iconic alliance with the likes of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, the two cricketers were sidelined from the first two Tests of the 2025-26 Ashes series owing to their injuries.

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Moreover, even Nathan Lyon was heavily under-bowled in Perth, before he was exiled from the playing XI in Brisbane, leaving Starc to team-up with ferocious-yet-inexperienced pacemen like Michael Neser, Brandon Doggett, Scott Boland and an optional Cameron Green.

While captain Pat Cummins has confirmed his availability for the third Test in Adelaide, fellow champion fast bowler Josh Hazlewood remains the elegant missing note in Australia’s seam attack, and his absence will surely force Starc to turn volume into overload. Fortunately for Australia, Mitchell Starc seems to be striving with enough bandwidth to keep the attack firing, as evidenced from his four fearsome bursts across Perth and Brisbane over the past couple of weeks.

Just 20 wickets away, and a 5-0 Ashes is in the reckoning

Mitchell Johnson concluded the 2013-14 Ashes with 37 wickets, three ‘Player of the Match’ awards, a ‘Player of the Series’ medal, all compounding Australia to a ruthless 5-0 win at home, only their third such Ashes result in history.

Mitchell Johnson stats in 2013-14 Ashes

Mitchell Starc, in all his glory, needs just 19 more wickets to match Mitchell Johnson, and 20 to surpass him in possibly six more England innings this 2025-26 Ashes series.

Nonetheless, if Starc maintains the same tempo and fails to surpass Johnson, it is likely Australia will still march towards a 5-0 finish on his fuel alone, a scoreline he would gladly accept.

With Mitchell Starc revving up for a record Australian summer, the third Test of the 2025-26 Ashes series will now be staged between December 17 and December 21 at the Adelaide Oval.

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