“She didn’t know” – Mitchell Starc reveals he is using his wife Alyssa Healy’s bat in Ashes
Australian all-rounder Mitchell Starc has made a surprising revelation about using his wife Alyssa Healy’s bat in Ashes 2023.
The 33-year-old added that Healy, who is leading Australia in the women’s Ashes, has no idea about the incident. The left-handed batter credited her bat for being able to deliver runs in the last four Tests.
Incidentally, both cricketers use Kookaburra-sponsored bats.
Starc was as quoted as saying by perthnow.com:
"It's a little bit lighter. (South Africa's) Anrich Nortje was bowling pretty fast through the summer, so I used a lighter bat. She didn't know it was gone, so it was fine."
He continued:
"I was cleaning out a few cricket bags at home, she was away on a tour. I said, 'You know there's three bats in this bag' and she didn't know. I said, 'There's two now, the other's in my bag!'"
For the uninitiated, Starc’s switch seems to have paid off. He scored a crucial 41 in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final, where Australia beat India by 209 runs.
Alyssa Healy & Mitchell Starc enjoying the time after the final.
What a beautiful picture. https://t.co/GsjkrqdcBp
The southpaw chipped in with 15* off 40 deliveries in the second Ashes Test to help Australia stretch their target to 370 before winning it by 43 runs to go 2-0 ahead in the best-of-five series.
The all-rounder also contributed 16 off 19 in the third Test to help Australia set a 250-run target against England in the third Test, but it went in vain as the hosts won the game by three wickets, reducing the deficit to 1-2 in the series.
Ashes 2023: Mitchell Starc reveals that Alyssa Healy has played with his bat
Mitchell Starc further revealed that Alyssa Healy has previously played with his bat. He said:
"It's one-all because she took one of mine a few years ago. She cut the end of the handle off, so it was no good to me after that."
Using Starc’s bat, Healy smashed 55 off 38 balls against Sydney Thunder and 46 off 31 in another clash with Perth in the 2016-17 WBBL.
The Healy-Starc trophy cabinet 🏆 https://t.co/sZ45l6UQZI
As far as his bowling is concerned, Starc has so far scalped 13 wickets in two Tests in Ashes 2023. The left-arm pacer had picked up four wickets in the WTC final.