‘A joke of an athlete’: Steven Finn and Stuart Broad reveal their current No. 1 men’s cricketer as Jasprit Bumrah loses out originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
-
Former England pacers Stuart Broad and Steven Finn named Mitchell Starc the best men’s cricketer in the world right now.
-
Jasprit Bumrah was locked in at number two, with both pundits calling his exclusion unthinkable.
-
Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja were the other Indians who found themselves in the duo’s top ten.
Advertisement
Mitchell remains the best player in the world for Steven Finn and Stuart Broad
Stuart Broad and Steven Finn have spent years watching the best fast bowlers in the world from the other end of a cricket pitch, while they themselves terrorised opponents with their pace.
That experience came in handy when the pair sat down on their For The Love Of Cricket podcast to rank the finest men’s cricketers currently playing.
Their conversation moved through the full top 10 with genuine debate at every position, but it was the final two names that produced the sharpest exchanges. Broad and Finn had already settled on the rank ten through three by the time the chance to pick the top two Test cricketers came in.
Advertisement
The pair agreed to reveal their picks for the very best on a count of three, mirroring what they had previously done alongside Jos Buttler to rank the best all-rounders.
What followed was a joint declaration for the top spot, followed immediately by a lock-in that neither man treated as remotely debatable.
MORE: ZIM vs AUS 3rd ODI 2026: Inglis century, Ellis all-round show seal 1-wicket win
Why Broad and Finn picked Mitchell Starc as the world’s best cricketer
Both pundits landed on the same name simultaneously when asked to name the best men’s cricketer in the world right now.
“The best men’s cricketer in the world right now is one, two, three. Mitchell Starc,” Broad said, before Finn immediately backed the selection. He pointed straight to Starc’s performance in the 2025/26 Ashes as the defining evidence.
Advertisement
“Yeah, just the numbers are remarkable. I mean, it was a Johnsonesque Ashes series, wasn’t it? How critical he was in the important moments when England looked like they might be fighting back, especially at Perth,” Finn said.
For them, it was nearly identical to Mitchell Johnson’s legendary 37-wicket haul in the 2013/14 Ashes.
While he didn’t exactly match his former teammate, Starc’s spell was just as deadly. Broad was quick to support that claim with a sharp number.
“31 wickets at 19.93 in a series in a bowling attack that changed so much. Michael Neser had, Scott Boland had a dodgy part of it, and Nathan Lyon had parts of it. Yeah, he was a joke,” Broad said.
Advertisement
MORE: IND vs JPN one-off T20I 2026 scorecard, result and highlights as Japan miss out on historic win
The duo praised Starc for his fitness at the age of 36
Finn went further, marvelling at how little Starc’s pace has dropped despite being deep into his 30s.
“He’s the same age as me, or he might be a year younger than me, and he’s still bowling rapidly, and his pace doesn’t drop. It’s a joke of an athlete.”
The former English pacer pointed to Starc’s latest onslaught against Bangladesh to back up his claims.
“Ten wickets against Bangladesh in the recent series there, it was another stupidly cheap six for him in there,” Finn said, adding that Starc’s lower-order batting is also something that’s often overlooked.
Advertisement
He was also quick to admit that while T20 cricket might be behind him, Starc remains one of the names who you need in your IPL or T20 squad.
“Even though he’s retired from T20 internationals, he’s still one of the bowlers where if you’re building an IPL team or a T20 team, he’s in there for it as well,” Finn said. “And his batting gets forgotten. He’s a bloody annoying number eight or nine batsman as well.”
But while Starc was number one, Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t far behind.
MORE: What happens if cricket matches at Asian Games are washed out? Tie-breaker rules explained
Advertisement
Why the case for Starc over Jasprit Bumrah is about form, not career numbers
With one spot remaining, Broad made clear there was no genuine debate to be had over who filled it.
“Well, Bumrah, I’m writing him down. We can’t have a top 10 of the world right now and not have Jasprit Bumrah in,” Broad said. Finn agreed instantly, treating the very idea of leaving Bumrah out as absurd.
“Well, no, no, no. It’d be crazy,” Finn added.
Judged purely on career statistics, this pick is difficult to defend. Bumrah’s Test average of 19.79 sits well clear of Starc’s 26.46. Meanwhile, Bumrah also boasts a better economy rate in every format along with a superior strike rate.
Advertisement
That’s why on the numbers that usually decide these arguments, Bumrah is the better bowler by a meaningful margin, not a marginal one. But what actually justifies Broad and Finn’s call is impact and availability rather than the cold numbers.
Starc has been ever-present and match-defining in the past year, taking 31 wickets at under 20 to destroy England in the 2025-26 Ashes and then following it with 10 wickets in a single Test against Bangladesh.
Bumrah, by contrast, has been carefully managed through injury for much of the same period, missing India’s Test series in Sri Lanka entirely and appearing sparingly across formats.
On the numbers alone, Bumrah remains the better bowler over his career, but when it comes to being a perennial match-winner in the Ashes, World Cups and Tests, Starc has a resume unlike anyone.
Advertisement
For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
