The Ashes: Mitchell Starc claims Compton-Miller Medal as player of the series for brilliance with ball and bat

Mitchell Starc’s legendary Ashes summer has been capped off by claiming the Compton-Miller Medal as the player of the series.

Whether Starc or Travis Head, who lead all comers with the bat by notching 629 runs over the course of the series, would claim the honour had emerged as a source of debate as the series wore on.

But the left-armer was recognised for a remarkable run of form with both bat and ball which rewarded him with 31 wickets and 156 runs across the five Tests to lead his side to a 4-1 victory.

The 35-year-old’s haul of wickets is the most in a single Ashes series since fellow left-armer Mitchell Johnson claimed 37 while terrorising England throughout a whitewash in 2013/14.

After receiving the medal, Starc conceded he was a “little bit tired” at the end of what had been a draining run of five Tests in eight weeks.

“It feels like it’s still going okay. The body’s still holding together,” he said.

“Scotty (Boland) and I are on the older side of things, but we still manage to get the job done.

“The entire squad — we haven’t just used 11 players — between the players and the staff, it’s been a long series, but very fruitful and enjoyable to be a part of.

“It’s a great group to be a part of, it’s a lot of fun, especially when you’ve got Travis at the top there and in the change rooms.”

Starc set the tone for his brilliant run of form by bagging a 10-wicket haul in Australia’s series-opening eight-wicket win in Perth, which included career-best figures of 7-58 in the first innings.

Despite being burdened with a heavy workload as the summer wore on, he went on to claim at least four wickets in each of the remaining four Tests.

On four occasions throughout the series, he got his side off to a perfect start by claiming a wicket in the first over, knocking over Zak Crawley on three occasions and Ben Duckett once.

Starc also played some critical hands with the bat over the course of the summer, including half-centuries in Brisbane and Adelaide when the series was live.

He joked he was “glad I got a few out of the middle at the start of the series, because I certainly didn’t at the end.”

“There’s no better incentive for a bowler than to not have to bowl and stay out there with the bat,” Starc said.

“It’s nice to put a few partnerships together. I think batting with Scotty in Brisbane was a big one for us, to get through to that night session and bowl with the newer pink ball under lights was a big one for us.”

In the second Test of the series in Brisbane, Starc surpassed Pakistan legend Wasim Akram as the most prolific left-arm fast bowler in Test history by inducing Harry Brook to edge to Steve Smith at second slip for the 415th wicket of his career.

His final wicket of the series in Sydney, which came from England’s No.11 Josh Tongue chipping a catch to Marnus Labuschagne at mid-off, drew him level with Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath as the southpaw with the most Test wickets to their name on 433.