One of cricket’s most contentious legal battles has finally reached an in-principle insurance settlement.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc reached the $1.53 million settlement on Monday 10 August, only two days before his case was due to be heard in the Victorian County Court.
Starc was suing a syndicate of Loyd’s of London, an insurance company providing specialist products covering unusual or unique circumstances that traditional insurers don’t cover.
Starc was claiming compensation for missing the 2018 Indian Premier League through injury. He was originally drafted to play with the Koltara Knight Raiders in the tournament for $1.8 million but was unable to participate after suffering a fracture to his right tibial bone in the thirst Test in Cape Town, South Africa.
According to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald Starc’s representatives claim he “suffered an injury to his right tibial bone, revealed by a sudden onset of pain in his right calf, which worsened over the next few bowling sessions and during the next Test match”, after bowling on uneven footmarks and a worn pitch.
Clyde and Co lawyers representing the insurer disputed the claim and argued Starc needed to prove “he suffered a single, sudden and unexpected event, which occurred at an identifiable time and place”.
Starc’s team submitted footage of the incident captured by Fox Sports as evidence of the sudden injury during a mediation process. However, the mediation attempt failed when Clyde and Co claimed they didn’t have adequate time to have the footage analysed, before proceeding to subpoena Fox News and Nine News Co for copies of the footage.
Once reviewed by Clyde and Co’s team their representative Dr Seamus Dalton gave an analysis stating “In my opinion, the plaintiff did not suffer an injury or accident on 10 March 2018. Mr Starc became aware of the onset of right posterior and posterolateral calf pain during the course of the second Test. Onset appears to have been gradual and symptoms continued over the course of the Test.”
This statement was counteracted by orthopedic surgeon Russel Miller on behalf of Starc, who claimed the injury was “complex and multifactorial…it is likely, on the balance of probabilities, that specific injury occurred on 10/03/2018, which was associated with extreme physical activity, including bowling on a pitch with ‘uneven footmarks’. It is likely that the injury involved the progression of bony stress reaction to bony stress fracture”
Ultimately the parties came to a settlement just days before the case was due to go to court.
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