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Indian Express
a day ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
400 wickets, 100 Tests, and an inswinger that is a landmark of cricket: Mitchell Starc's transformation from ‘softie' to ‘mongrel'
There is something so devilishly simple about Mitchell Starc's inswinging bazookas with which he dismantled three West Indians in his first over, and two more by his fifteenth delivery, to go past 400 Test wickets in his 100th Test on Monday. It's fast, it curves, and it stings either the pad or the stumps. There is no surprise. No batsman can claim to be caught unaware of what he is going to receive from Starc with the new ball, especially if the conditions are going to abet swing. And yet, many end up being utterly embarrassed, watching the pacer's pockmarked face running past them with a raised arm. 23 batsmen have seen that blurry sight after being dismissed in the first over of a Test match by the Australian. That inswinging Starc delivery is a landmark of modern-day cricket. It would be tempting for some to try adding Shaheen Afridi's version to it, but its lack of consistency reduces it to just a footnote, especially in Test match cricket. He hasn't quite publicly agreed yet, but in the circle of former Australian players, Starc's turnaround apparently came after the stinging criticism from Shane Warne in 2014. 'He is too soft,' Warne had reportedly claimed, and the criticism seemed to be shared by the then-Australian management as Starc was dropped. Australia's bowling coach, then, was Craig McDermott, who would term it as 'presence'. 'It was something we have talked about even before Warnie got stuck into him,' Dermott had said. Around this time, in a hotel in Dubai, former South African pacer Allan Donald called over Starc for a chat. They were both in Bengaluru's IPL team – Donald the coach, Starc the young fast bowler from Australia. Donald wanted to know whether Starc had it in him to take the next step as a fast bowler and become a leader. 'I felt he had it, but wanted to hear from him. I asked him, 'Are you ready to become a leader?' Donald had once recalled that episode while speaking to The Indian Express. Leadership, Donald believes, is what separates the ones who can merely bowl quick and the fastmen who go on to become great bowlers. It's about having control over the art of fast bowling but goes beyond that – 'work ethic, hunger, desire to become great, ruthless, ability and keenness to set an example to other bowlers in the team, and be a mongrel of sorts on field …' Donald listed them out with feverish passion. Donald remembered Starc looking up at him that day to say, 'Yes, I would love to do that'. But being nice came easier to Starc. There is this video of Glen Maxwell interviewing Virat Kohli where the talk swerves to Starc and Kohli pipes up, 'He is such a wonderful human being', and Maxwell chips in with, 'Yeah he is a softie!' Not often do you hear stories of a childhood romance coming to fruition in adulthood. Starc was 9 when he walked into an academy with dreams of becoming a wicketkeeper. His chief competition in that selection camp was Alyssa Healy, before she moved away from the boys' camp. Years later, they would marry, to complete an aww-inducing story, worthy of a rom-com. It was one of the coaches in an under-15 camp who saw him bowl medium pace and told him to forget keeping and use his height and natural action to start bowling fast. The first thing one notices is the rhythmic run-up. With some fast bowlers, one tends to notice the odd things – the bobbing head, flailing arms, the lack of fluidity in the run – with things falling in place only at the last instant at the crease, which sets these oddities right. Not with Starc. Everything seems perfectly synced, and the result seems like an obvious culmination of sorts. Wasim Akram had once talked about how, after watching Starc bowl for the first time, he got so excited that he had a half-hour chat with the Australian, leaving behind one advice in particular: Snap the wrist at release to get more swing. That wrist-snap injected an extra dose of venom into Starc's art. It was to Akram that Donald himself would return when he became Australia's bowling consultant for a brief while. By this time, post the days of the Dubai chat, if anything, the softie had turned cold-blooded. So much so that he had started to throw the balls back at the batsmen and Steve Smith had to once pull him up publicly for his behaviour. Even McDermott wanted his man to hold back a bit. 'I have seen him go the other way now – sometimes he can go a little bit too far. You don't want to get too over-aggressive because you forget what you are trying to do with the ball and what you are trying to do with the batsmen.' During one of his initial chats, Donald, who was talking about the angles of release and how late the ball should start moving in the air to create havoc, realised it was better to tell Starc to observe the master instead. 'I told him, if there is one bowler you want to watch and learn about all these things, it is Wasim Akram. What a bowler he was – he had everything and more.' Inspired by Akram's videos, and close monitoring from Donald, the ball began to do Starc's bidding; the art of reverse swing no longer felt as uncontrollable as it once did. Donald believes Starc managed to tap into his inner mongrel more productively. 'He bowls a lot more bouncers now than what he did in his initial years. We have talked about it in the past – Get the aggro going, let the batsmen know he can't come forward, and let the menace always be there. 'There aren't many fast bowlers who can bowl yorkers with the new ball as he does. Unlike many, he doesn't hesitate to bowl the new ball really full, more often than not. That's when, combined with the short deliveries, you are going to get the edges and hit the stumps. He can reverse from over and round the stumps. He can hurt you with the new and the bad ball.' Donald then nailed that one Starc trait of 'attitude' that Pat Cummins too recently raved about. 'You can't coach a guy to be a leader if he doesn't want to. There are some who just bowl and go. Starc is one guy who wants it badly. He is like McGrath, Shane Warne and wants to be that person who loves the ball and be a man all the time. You can't coach stuff like that. Starc has it. He is very very special. If I have to describe him in one word – attitude. He is a proper one-hundred-percenter. He would walk through the wall for his team.' From being a 'softie,' he veered to the other extreme of over-boiling, before he course-corrected to become the modern-day poster boy of the heavy-metal classicalism of a left-arm swing bowler.
Hindustan Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Five years of India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership
In 2009, India and Australia signed a strategic partnership to strengthen political and security relations, but few could have predicted the meteoric rise of the relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). A significant shift occurred in the June 2020 virtual summit between Prime Minister (PM), Narendra Modi and the then-Australian PM Scott Morrison, where the two agreed to elevate the strategic pPartnership to a CSP, building on a decade-old bilateral strategic engagement. With $ 50 billion in two-way trade, Australian universities opening campuses in India, and a million-strong Indian diaspora strengthening people-to-people ties, the tripling of direct flights between India and Australia since 2022, and a leader-level annual summit since 2023, bilateral ties have grown significantly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian deputy prime minister Richard Marles met in Delhi on Wednesday. ani (ANI) As the two countries chart an ambitious future—from defence cooperation to increased security ties—the question remains: How has the bilateral partnership evolved since the establishment of the CSP? To what extent has it deepened and matured, and what further steps can be taken to strengthen it? To mark the 5th anniversary of this significant partnership, Australian deputy PM Richard Marles arrived in Delhi to meet the Indian PM on June 4, 2025, on his first overseas visit since taking office this year—reflecting Canberra's importance to New Delhi and highlighting the growing strategic alignment between the two. Both countries clearly recognise the relevance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and hence, reaffirm the principles of a free, open, inclusive and rules-based region. This necessitates expanding areas of cooperation in areas like improving maritime security, strengthening diplomatic ties, and deepening defence and military cooperation—in sync with growing challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. The seriousness of the partnership from both sides is amplified by the high-level bilateral exchanges that have been institutionalised, with India now holding annual leader-level summits beginning in 2023, followed by the second dialogue in 2024, along with the 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue in 2021 and 2023—upgraded from the continuing 2+2 secretary-level dialogue in June 2020. Australia is perhaps the third country, in addition to Japan and Russia, with which India has institutionalised such regular high-level structured dialogues, indicating a strategic premium that New Delhi places on its partnership with Canberra. Notably, the quantity and quality of bilateral dialogues have increased: the Foreign Minister's Framework Dialogue, a bilateral stock-taking mechanism; the 2+2 Foreign and Defence Secretary-level consultations, a precursor 'inter-sessional' activity prior to the 2+2 ministerial dialogue; Defence Policy talks; and the Maritime Security Dialogue have respectively concluded their 14th, 4th, 9th, and 6th editions. This is undoubtedly an elevation from just discussing their fondness for cricket to promoting and expanding inter-bureaucratic linkages, offering mechanisms to exchange views and buttressing a common strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific region—an area that has drawn the attention of major global powers in recent years. Military and defence ties are also transforming, exhibiting historic first trends and increasing complexity in military exercises, interoperability, and entanglements. Military-related activities, including joint exercises, meetings among defence officials and service staff, port calls, and the military officials' participation in events and conferences, have seen a noticeable rise, increasing from 38 in 2018 to 53 by 2023 and counting. In 2023, Australia's inaugural hosting of the Malabar exercise—a quadrilateral naval exercise involving the US, Japan, Australia, and India—demonstrated the aggregation of anti-submarine activities, air defence and gunnery exercises, and the integration of communication operations along with replenishment practices. In its 2023 edition of the Indo-Pacific Endeavour—a regionally-tailored multilateral defence exercise—an Indian Navy maritime patrol aircraft, P-8I Neptune, and Australia's P-8A Poseidon aircraft engaged in a joint maritime interoperability training session. In the same year, India's INS VAGIR, made a port call to Perth—the farthest docking of an Indian submarine so far. Furthermore, the Indian Navy travelled to Australia's Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean region, which the Australian department of defence depicted as 'a groundbreaking visit.' Bilaterally, AUSINDEX—a biennial maritime exercise—concluded its 5th edition in 2023 on complex maritime operations involving aircraft and maritime patrolling jets. Also, AUSTRAHIND, a joint Indian and Australian army exercise, carried out sub-conventional operations curated to manage contingencies in arid conditions and a semi-urban landscape in its recent edition. In addition, India participated as an observer in TALISMAN SABRE, a multilateral exercise, in 2023 (for the second time), and in KAKADU, a multinational exercise, in 2022. In a way, bilateral military entanglements aid participation in multilateral exercises by enhancing operational familiarity between military hardware and embracing joint practices. India's inaugural participation in PITCH BLACK—a multinational air defence exercise—in 2018 recorded the first case of 'mid-air refuelling' between India's Su-30MKI and a RAAF aircraft (KC-30A), paving the way for a bilateral air-to-air refuelling agreement in November 2024. Such an arrangement will enhance the operational capacity of the Indian Navy's P-8I Neptune surveillance aircraft in the Indo-Pacific region. As a result, the rapid transformation in naval exchanges and defence entanglements was essentially facilitated through the signing of the Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement in June 2020, which mandated complex military engagement and logistical cooperation to enhance military cooperation between the countries. More specifically, in 2021, the Australian government dispatched its inaugural liaison officer to the India Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, maintained by the Indian Navy, to enable maritime situational awareness with the intent to secure sea lanes of communication. Defence science and industry collaboration has made initial strides, with the participation of Indian defence industry partners in the 2024 Indian Ocean Security and Defence Conference to boost defence industry and start-up collaboration. Previously, Thales Australia exported mine-sweeping systems to India, and a similar potential for defence trade remains between both countries. To begin with, military exercises could extend beyond individual service levels and be jointly pursued—similar to India's Tiger Triumph exercise with the United States. Furthermore, these exercises can be designed to emulate Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) scenarios and simulate military contingencies. Also, Australia does not have a National Security Council or National Security Advisor (NSA), making an NSA-level mechanism inconceivable—yet having one would help Australia better coordinate and engage in the growing number of global NSA-level dialogues. The recommendation for such a mechanism was officially raised in the 2009 Security Cooperation arrangement between India and Australia. India already has dedicated NSA-level working mechanisms with countries like the US, Russia, and Japan. India even has one with China under special representative-level talks. Such dedicated institutional mechanisms help India in continuing dialogue on mutual security issues with Australia. Other potential areas for collaboration can include surveillance and reconnaissance, marine warfare, and armed unmanned aerial vehicles, mainly spearheaded by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and tech start-ups that can offer innovative solutions. The INDUS-X bilateral defence technology partnership between India and the U.S. provides a structured template for exploring potential bilateral collaboration. Finally, convergences in Quad have become more pertinent. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, Australia and India worked together in Quad to deliver 400 million vaccines, and this proven collaboration offers significant policy scope to coordinate activities at minilateral and multilateral setups in the medical and humanitarian sectors. Given America's inward focus, India and Australia can explore leadership roles in Quad because of their growing strategic interests, regional influence, and shared commitment to a stable and rules-based order. This article is authored by Rishi Gupta, assistant director, and Rahul Jaybhay, research analyst, Asia Society Policy Institute, Delhi.
Epoch Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Filmmaker Explains Why Media Outlets Are Silent on the CCP's Abuses
An award-winning filmmaker has offered her insights into why Western media outlets seem to fall silent when telling the story of China's human rights problems. China observers have noted that media outlets once vocal on issues like the persecution of Falun Gong and repression in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, have largely gone silent. Kay Rubacek, a filmmaker, writer, and human rights advocate from Australia, and who was once 'If they report on issues that are sensitive to the regime, they will be kicked out, and their visas will be banned. That has happened so many instances,' she told ABC Radio Brisbane. Rubacek explained that sometimes it was a case of being covering the 'wrong thing at the wrong time.' Some reporters were expelled by CCP officials because they covered sensitive issues like the Falun Gong spiritual movement, or even corruption in a small town, or environmental abuse. Related Stories 11/17/2024 6/4/2025 'Or if they want you as a pawn to play tit-for-tat with, they will target the [reporting] journey throughout. [There've been] so many instances of that, so media are very, very cautious to an extreme.' A local example of this is the arbitrary detention of CGTN reporter and Australian citizen, Cheng Lei, who was detained during the pandemic in retaliation for the then-Australian government calling for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19. Australian journalist Cheng Lei observes a signing ceremony by China's Premier Li Qiang and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 17, 2024. Lukas Coch/POOL/AFP via Getty Images Meanwhile, Rubacek pointed to another factor and that was the advertising dollars from China. 'For example, China Daily has included inserts in some American media, and that provides a large sum of advertising dollars directly from the CCP. And there's many examples of that from radio to television to print to movies, Hollywood, you name it,' she said. China Daily is one of the CCP's largest state-owned English-language newspapers. 'China has a very large influence and pull, and they do it in a way that is usually targeting the people who tend to be fearful, and they know how to push those buttons.' In 2024, two U.S. senators 'From whitewashing the genocide of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, to excusing the CCP's continued bankrolling of Russia's war against Ukraine, China Daily's mission is to propagate the goals of the party,' the senators wrote. 'By continuing to do business with China Daily, your outlet is disseminating CCP propaganda to an American audience.' In the same year, China Daily CCP Leader Xi Jinping, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Colombian President Gustavo Petro with leaders of the G20 members as they pose for the photo of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty at the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Nov. 18, 2024. Stefan Rousseau -Meanwhile, Rubacek also noted the distinction between China, the Chinese people, and the CCP in her interview. 'I've been to China. It's a wonderful place, and it is a wonderful country with a marvellous history, and the people are absolutely beautiful human beings, as we would expect in any country when we respect each other,' she said. 'But the Communist Party itself really has become kind of a rogue entity when you look at how it operates.'
