Why Dale Steyn Is A Better Test Bowler Than Mitchell Starc Despite Having Less Wickets

Dale Steyn and Mitchell Starc [Source: AFP and Cricket Australia]

Mitchell Starc has just produced the kind of Test spell that can distort any debate about greatness. On August 22, the Australian left-armer ripped through Bangladesh for 6/12 in Mackay, taking his first five wickets in only 22 balls as the visitors were bowled out for 64. 

The performance was not merely destructive; it pushed Starc past Dale Steyn on the all-time Test wicket takers' list. Yet that is precisely where the Steyn-Starc debate becomes more interesting. 

If Test bowling is judged only by wickets, Starc now has the edge. If it is judged by efficiency, adaptability, conditions, and the ability to make elite batters look ordinary, Steyn still has a compelling claim.

Dale Steyn vs Mitchell Starc: A Look At Test Numbers

Steyn finished his Test career with 439 wickets in 93 matches, while Starc's latest six-for has taken him beyond that mark after a significantly longer career. But the raw wicket count hides how many opportunities each bowler needed to take those wickets.

Starc has now overtaken Dale Steyn in wickets, but the latter took his 439 wickets while conceding runs at an average of just 22.95, compared with Starc's 26.27. Steyn also needed only 42.3 balls per wicket, better than Starc's 45.9.

In other words, Starc has accumulated more wickets but Steyn provided breakthroughs more efficiently while also conceding less runs. 

And there is another important distinction. Steyn collected 26 five-wicket hauls and five ten-wicket hauls, as opposed to Starc's 19 and three, respectively. That suggests Steyn was not merely a bowler who kept collecting wickets over a long career. He had a greater tendency to take control of an entire Test match with his fiery spells. 

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Home and Away: Steyn's advantage was not built purely in South Africa

This is perhaps the strongest statistical argument for Dale Steyn. Fast bowlers inevitably benefit from familiar conditions. The pitches in South Africa mostly assisted Steyn, as there was pace and bounce on offer. But his away record shows that his effectiveness was not limited to familiar conditions at home.

The important point is not simply that Steyn was better at home. He remained highly effective away from home, rather than relying predominantly on South African conditions. 

Steyn's away average of 24.91 remained substantially better than Starc's 27.81, while his away strike rate was also superior to the Australian ace. 

So when the argument is reduced to who needed favourable conditions less, Steyn has a serious edge over Mitchell Starc. 

Steyn outperformed Starc in the subcontinent

If there is one part of this comparison that should make the Steyn argument stand out, it is his performance in Tests in the Asian subcontinent. 

Subcontinental Test cricket is where a fast bowler is frequently asked to manufacture wickets rather than simply accept what the pitch offers. The new ball can lose its potency quickly, surfaces can become slow, and factors like reverse swing, changes of angle and sheer accuracy become essential.

Steyn's performances in India were particularly significant: 26 wickets in six Tests at an average of 21.38, including a career-best 7/51. Against India overall, he took 65 wickets at 21.53. He also averaged just 14.20 in Bangladesh and 24.66 in Pakistan.

(Steyn and Starc's Test records in the subcontinent)

Starc, meanwhile, has taken 58 wickets in Asia at an average of 28.76 and a strike rate of 53.12. That does not make Starc a poor bowler in Asia. Far from it. His reverse swing and ability to attack with the older ball have made him dangerous there.

However, Steyn did something more difficult. He made fast bowling look like a first-choice method of attack in conditions that often favour spin. That is a major part of why the word "skill" matters in this comparison.

The skill set question between the pace greats

Mitchell Starc's skill set is extraordinary. He has the left-arm angle, extreme pace, late movement, a devastating yorker and the ability to attack the stumps from around the wicket. His release point makes him particularly difficult for right-handers to line up, while his natural angle can drag batters across the crease.

And when the ball starts swinging, Starc can produce spells like the one in Mackay. His first five wickets against Bangladesh came in just 22 balls, with four of those dismissals coming without the batters scoring. 

But Steyn's genius was slightly different. He could change the question being asked of a batter. If there was conventional swing, he could swing it. If the pitch offered seam, he could hit the seam. If the ball became old, he could reverse it.

If the pitch offered nothing, he could attack the outside edge with relentless pace and late swing. And when none of those options was immediately available, Steyn could simply bowl faster and straighter.

That adaptability is why his career cannot be reduced to a collection of wicket-taking spells. Steyn was not simply dangerous when conditions were right. He was capable of making conditions irrelevant.

Steyn's record against elite opposition strengthens the argument

Steyn's numbers against individual major opponents are another reason the "conditions" argument does not fully explain his career. Even against Australia, where his average rose to 27.47, he still collected 70 wickets. There was no obvious blind spot.

England gave him more trouble, 50 wickets at 31.62, but even there, the overall body of work remained substantial.

That is an important distinction between a bowler who has accumulated wickets and one who repeatedly found ways to hurt different types of batting line-ups.

Starc's biggest advantage is longevity, and that should not be dismissed

There is no need to diminish Starc to make the Steyn argument. In fact, Starc deserves enormous credit for the very thing that creates this debate.

He has stayed elite for an extraordinarily long time. His career has survived workload, injuries, changing bowling conditions, changes in Test cricket and the demands of being Australia's premier left-arm quick across generations.

Steyn's career was shorter and more explosive. Starc's is longer and more durable and that durability is itself a skill.

Verdict: Why Steyn over Starc?

Mitchell Starc passing Dale Steyn on the highest wicket-takers' list is a landmark achievement. It should be celebrated on its own terms. And after the Mackay demolition, it would be foolish to pretend that Starc does not have a legitimate claim to being one of the greatest fast bowlers of his generation.

But the wicket column cannot settle the Steyn-Starc debate. Steyn's overall average and strike rate, superior five-wicket haul count, exceptional away record and extraordinary average in Asia reveal a bowler who was effective in places where pace bowling is supposed to become difficult. 

Starc has the greater career longevity and, as of August 22, 2026, has now moved beyond Steyn's wicket tally. Yet Steyn's case was never built solely on having more wickets.

It was built on something harder to quantify which is the ability to find a method when there was no obvious method available. And that is why, even after Starc has overtaken him in wickets, Dale Steyn can still reasonably be called the better Test bowler.

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