Mitchell Johnson: Mitchell Starc’s greatest triumph is his longevity and ability to remain true to himself

When I watch cricket, footy or any professional sport, I often wonder what motivates professional athletes to do what they do.

Is it the fame or the money? Did they fall into the sport, or were they pushed into it because they were outstanding, or because their parents wanted them to?

Did they play a sport because a friend played? Or did they set out to play for their country, or want to be the best in the world?

There are plenty of motivations, but I always think back to my childhood and what sport meant to me and my friends. We often played in the backyard or at a park, even the front driveway got a run playing cricket. Wherever it was, we played it because it was fun.

We all had those dreams at some point that you were going to be Tiger Woods or Ronaldo but what comes with getting to the top? Everyone is different, and for me, the truth is I fell into cricket and got lucky to begin with, which gave me an opportunity.

I had the primary goal of playing for Australia, and I decided that I wanted to be the best at what I did: a left-arm fast bowler who was not like anyone else. I wanted to do it my way.

This brings me to Mitchell Starc, another left-arm quick, who is about to play his 100th Test match and become just the second Australian fast bowler to reach that mark after Glenn McGrath.

There are plenty of similarities between us, including that we both copped a fair amount of criticism for many reasons. As a kid playing sport for fun with a dream, this is certainly not something you can prepare for.

The late Shane Warne was a prominent critic of Starc, so it must have been difficult for him, given the legendary status Warne held in the game.

I think Warne could see his talent and just wanted to get the best out of him. I shared some of Warne’s observations of some of Starc’s poor body language at times, but he was still learning his craft at that stage.

I know it would have had an impact on Starc. Any time Warney said something, we would all listen, even though we didn’t always like it.

Why Starc has been such a great asset to the bowling attack is that he is different. There has been a long-term criticism that he isn’t a Josh Hazlewood or a Pat Cummins-type bowler. I say good.

Why would he want to be the same as them? If he did try to replicate their methods, he wouldn’t be playing and he wouldn’t enjoy trying to bowl that way anyway.

Be you, do it your way. Of course, you still work hard on the fundamentals. But when it comes to game time, your flair or X-factor can come out. Starc’s flair is swinging a new, full ball along with raw pace.

From the time I first played with Starcy to my last day, he was the same bloke. I remember him saying to me that he looked up to me, and that took me by surprise. But the more I thought about it, I felt honoured he felt that way. It was nice having another left-armer to bounce ideas off and talk about the angles we used.

He was always pretty quiet as a young bowler but would ask questions, I think respectful is the word I’d use for him. He was a relaxed guy around the group but had an intensity about him when he trained and played. He always wanted to learn and get better.

Starc cracked the magical 160kmh mark in my final Test match at the WACA Ground in 2015/16. It’s a mark many quicks want to achieve and comes with bragging rights of being the fastest bowler in the game.

That day he was fired up. The pitch was flat, it was hot and New Zealand were piling on the runs. We needed wickets.

Starc was in the 150s that over and we started to gee him up a bit in hope he would hit 160kmh. What made it funny was he thought an earlier ball to Brendon McCullum was quicker, but only registered in at 150-odd.

He did joke about the speed guns being turned up that day. But the fast bowlers that day said to Starc ‘it’s in the record books now, you own it’ and we were pumped for him. Starc was stoked about it but never after that day did he bring it up, which tells you a bit about him.

Starc has taken 395 Test wickets but his greatest achievement across 99 Test matches is his longevity and ability to fail in front of millions, then bounce back by working out what works for him so he can be the best he can be.

Starc has put the team first on numerous occasions in game situations. And for years he has turned down the millions on offer in the Indian Premier League so that he can focus on getting himself right to play for Australia and play Test cricket at his very best.

He has done what any successful athlete does: failed, got back up, worked hard and repeated the process. Most importantly, he has done it his way and had fun, which is the reason we start playing sport in the first place.

Congratulations on a magnificent century, Starcy.