Starc compares Australia's daunting year to McIlroy's major sweep

Australia’s ageing test side face a defining year with tours of South Africa, India and England, and pace spearhead Mitchell Starc said winning all three ​series and retaining the one-day World Cup would be the equivalent ‌of Rory McIlroy winning golf’s four majors in a single season.

Australia begin the daunting 12-month stretch with a three-test series against South Africa in Durban on Friday, before tours of India and ​England next year and the defence of their 2023 ODI World Cup ​title.

Having not won a test series in England since 2001, India ⁠since 2004 and South Africa since 2014, the Australians face one of their ​toughest assignments in recent years.

“It’s somewhat unusual that you play the three marquee series ​away from home in the space of 12 months,” Starc told ESPNcricinfo.

“And there’s two where we, as an Australian team, haven’t won in a long time. Then you throw in the ​side of the narrative that we’re obviously an older side and we’ve been ​together a long time, and the pressure comes from both of those things.

“But if, in 12 ‌or ⁠14 months time, we are sat here and we have won three away test series and a World Cup it’d be, I guess, the equivalent of Rory McIlroy winning four majors in the same year.”

The challenge comes at a pivotal moment ​for a team increasingly ​scrutinised over its ⁠ageing profile, with key members of Australia’s core now in their 30s.

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Starc, 36, acknowledged the discussion around the team’s ageing ​roster but said the team still had plenty it wanted ​to achieve.

“We’re ⁠acutely aware of how old we are, particularly from the outside noise,” Starc said.

“We know what’s coming up, and we know series are big, but at some point ⁠the story’s ​going to end, right? We’re all aware of ​what we could achieve. We certainly want to win everything and there’s still a lot of things ​we all want to achieve.”