Kingston, July 9 (IANS) Ahead of Mitchell Starc set to play his 100th Test match against the West Indies in Jamaica, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald feels the left-arm fast-bowling spearhead is deserving to get all the plaudits coming his way this week.

Starc is set to become just the second Australian fast bowler after Glenn McGrath, and 16th player overall from his country to play 100 Tests..It’s an incredible achievement. You think of the surfaces that they play on in Australia. They’re firm, they’re hard, they take their toll. There’s a reason why there’s only two that have ever done it for Australia.

“He’s sacrificed a fair bit along the way as well… some of the IPL that he’s missed to get his body right to play for Australia. Really proud of him. He should get all the plaudits this week that he deserves,” McDonald was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday.

With 395 scalps currently against his name Starc is also on the verge of becoming the second Australian fast-bowler to take 400 Test wickets. Skipper Pat Cummins, who has been a long-time team-mate of Starc, said he has the utmost respect for him still clocking high speeds in Tests.

“We’ll come up with something (to celebrate). It’s a huge effort. It’s a pretty small crew that have played 100 Tests. He’s the second-fastest bowler, which is really rare and tough to do. Proud of him. He’s still bowling 145km/h at the end (of the recent Test against the West Indies).

“I can’t fathom playing 100 games and keeping that kind of speed. He’s a warrior, turns up every week and just cracks on. He’s such a low-fuss kind of guy. All things going well, it’ll be a great week for him,” he said.

Fellow pacer Josh Hazlewood further reflected on the hard yards Starc has put in for maintaining his longevity – both from a mental and physical perspective.

“One of the things I admire is the work ethic. Everyone just sees you play the games and don’t see much else.

“Being in his shoes as well, and being around it for so long, you see everything that goes into it. It’s the late night physio treatment sessions. It’s a pretty amazing achievement to play 100 Tests. It’ll be awesome to be part of it,” he said.

–IANS

nr/bc