Mitchell Starc is set to play his 100th Test for Australia against the West Indies in Kingston, starting July 12. He’ll be only the second Australian fast bowler, after Glenn McGrath, to reach this milestone. With 395 wickets so far, he has a good chance to hit the 400 mark in this match.

Starc, 34, talked about reaching this point in his career. He joked about feeling old and spoke of the years of hard work and commitment it took to become a leading fast bowler. Born in Sydney, he said he’s disappointed when injuries have kept him from helping the team and he wants to avoid that in the future. That’s why he focuses on taking care of himself, even if it means missing out on franchise cricket.

I’ve tried to look after my body and find ways through pain barriers to make an impact for the team. I’ve been a player that’s been injured and left the team a man down before – I never wanted to do that again,” Starc told cricket.com.au.

“The years that I did miss franchise cricket, I don’t regret that at all. To get my body in as good a spot as I could for Australia to play 99 games, spend some time at home, spend some time with Alyssa [Healy] and family. That’s the reason why I did those things. Whether it’s paid off now, being a couple of days away from playing 100, or the series wins or the Test match wins, looking back at it, I wouldn’t change it,” he said.

Before the 2021-22 Ashes series, there was talk of dropping Starc from the team. But the coaches supported him, and he started the series by dismissing Rory Burns with his very first ball. Since then, he’s been outstanding, taking 140 wickets at an average of 27.07.