Sheffield Shield 2020-21: Mitchell Starc throws his bat after captain declares innings with him batting on 86

New South Wales are up against Tasmania in the 2020 edition of the Sheffield Shield Trophy in Adelaide. New South Wales are in a good position in the match and are the favourites to win the clash, however, a decision by captain Peter Nevill and the reaction of pacer Mitchell Starc sparked controversy during the fag end of Day 3.

Winning the toss, Tasmania sent South Wales to bat first. It was a bad day at the office for Peter Nevill’s side as they collapsed at a mere score of 64 runs in just 30.3 overs. In response, Tasmania batters accumulated 239 runs to lead the match by 175 runs on the back of a stunning century by opening batsman Jordan Silk.

However, after initial hiccups, New South Wales bounced back stronger as the batters including the likes of Nick Larkin, Moises Henriques, Sean Abbott and Mitchell Starc launched an assault on the opposition bowlers by collecting 522 runs. The aforementioned trio of Larkin, Henriques and Abbott completed their centuries while Starc was playing at 86 runs when the skipper Peter declared the innings.

Social media has mixed reactions to Mitchell Starc’s outburst

This left the Australian seamer frustrated as he was just 14 runs away from scoring his maiden century not just in first-class cricket but also in any form of mainstream cricket. What frustrated the pacer more was the fact that the skipper waited for Abbott to reach his century. As soon as Sean hit a four to reach at the score of 102, Nevill declared the innings.

This left Mitchell disappointed and he made sure to tell his teammates and captain know about the same. While Starc walked through congratulatory teammates at the boundary, he threw his bat to the floor in frustration before entering the tent.

What prompted Nevill to declare the innings was the fact that it was the final session of the penultimate day and he wanted to give his bowlers more than a day to take all the 10 wickets of Tasmania. The video of Starc’s violent behaviour quickly went viral on social media and fetched mixed responses from the netizens.

While some people criticised the seamer for thinking about himself before the team, many felt that Starc’s reaction was genuine and the skipper should have waited for the pacer to complete his maiden ton just like he waited for teammate Abbott to get his century.

Here’s how Twitter reacted