Australia pacer Mitchell Starc has been named the ICC Men’s Player of the Year for December 2025 following his impressive performances in Australia’s dominant 4-1 Ashes series win on home soil.
Starc beat two other notable players: West Indies’ Justin Greaves, who scored his maiden double century in Christchurch against New Zealand, and Jacob Duffy, who took 25 wickets in New Zealand’s 2–0 series win over the West Indies.
“It’s an honor to be named the ICC player of the month, and even more special that it comes on the back of a successful home Ashes,” Starc said. “To contribute to such an iconic series win in front of our home crowd is something we will all cherish for a long time.”
Reflecting on the team’s recent performance and looking ahead to the challenges ahead, Starc stressed the importance of maintaining the momentum and building on their success.
“As a team, we have produced some outstanding performances in recent years and the focus is now on building that momentum towards next year’s ICC World Test Championship final,” he said.
The left-arm pacer started the month with 10 wickets in Australia’s win over England in the first Ashes Test in Perth and eight in Brisbane.
He then shared the workload with fellow Australian bowlers, taking four wickets each in the Adelaide and Melbourne Tests, taking a total of 16 wickets in December.
His impact with the bat was also long lasting. His fifties in Brisbane and Adelaide helped Australia take a 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Australia eventually won the series 4–1, with Starc being the highest wicket-taker (31 wickets) and winning the Man of the Series award.
This is the first time Starc has won the ICC Men’s Player of the Month award, ending a two-year wait for an Australian winner. The last Australian to win the award was Pat Cummins in December 2023.