Fresh off the back of claiming his first Allan Border Medal, Australian pacemen Mitchell Starc has let fly at his most vocal critic - leg-spinning champion, Shane Warne.
The outspoken Victorian had previously chided the left-armer for what he perceived to be subpar performances from Starc. However, after bouncing back in all formats of the game within the past calendar year, the New South Welshman saw fit to return fire.
Although Warne was willing to concede in his many commentary stints for Fox Sports this summer that Starc had rediscovered his best form during Australia's Ashes domination of England, the latter claimed the pair had no relationship to speak of.
After being awarded the prestigious medallion at Manuka Oval on Saturday afternoon, Starc was asked whether he had spoken to Warne of late, to which the 31-year-old replied: “What would you like me to speak to him about?”
Starc then added that Warne's critical comments were of very little concern to him or those within his inner circle.
“It doesn’t interest me at all. He’s entitled to his opinion," he continued.
“I’m just going to go about my cricket the way I’d like to, and I’ve got my family support networks and I get to play cricket with some of my best mates, so I’m pretty comfortable with where I’m at.”
The veteran quick with 274 Test wickets to his name then claimed that it was only his wife, Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, and those that he shared a dressing room with that would ever have his ear.
“I made it a key point of mine to not pay too much attention to, I guess, opinions outside of my circle of trust if you like, which I did a few years ago,” Starc explained.
“And I think that’s kept me in a pretty level space through the last few years with either not playing the cricket I wanted to, or certainly challenges off the field.
“I’ve got a wife who plays at the highest level and a couple of my closest mates who play international cricket, so I’ve got a pretty good sounding board in that regard.”
The often venomous bowler then let his guard down to explain that his hard, on-field exterior was not the truest representation of self.
“I guess I went through periods years ago where any criticism or different opinions was almost like a bit of a spur-me-on to stick it up them," Starc delineated.
“But a couple years ago I made that decision to get away from it all and I think that’s just helping me stay really level through some good stuff, and not so good stuff.”
Starc also added the award for being Australia's best-performing ODI player within the voting window, comfortably accounting for the efforts of Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa and Alex Carey.
Unfortunately, Saturday proved less glittering for Healy, who collected her first-ever Test pair at the crease during Australia's Ashes battle against England's Women in Canberra.
