Mitchell Starc may have become only the seventh Australian bowler to take 300 Test wickets last month, but he remains no watch for his wife Alyssa Healy on the golf course.

The Aussie quick and Healy took to the greens on New Year's Eve for their annual 'Stealy Cup', the one-on-one event which pits the two cricket superstars against each other.

And Healy revealed on Instagram she'd retained the trophy after beating her husband, sharing a picture of a gloomy-looking Starc with the caption 'he remains positive for 2023'.

Starc, meanwhile, conceded defeat and vowed to come back stronger in 2023.

'Another year lost to @a_healy,' he wrote on Instagram.

'Well done. Starts fresh tomorrow' 

Speaking to Channel 7 last year, Starc explained the couple had even gone as far as buying a trophy specifically for the competition, which was devised after a round of golf.

Healy, meanwhile, lifted the lid on the traditions surrounding the event.

'I’m the current holder, it got presented last year on New Year’s Eve on the couch at home, it was a pretty special ceremony,' she said.

'I think I’m actually a worse loser than Mitch so it’s probably better that I’m winning

'We do have a rule that you have to have a smooch after the 18th hole no matter what happens on those 18 holes. We have a smooch and go and have a beer.' 

Starc and Healy will have to make do with finding solace on a golf course after injuries ruled them out of action in their day job.

The World Cup-winning wicket-keeper missed Australia's final T20 international of the series against India in Mumbai last month with a calf strain and watched from the sideline as her teammate wrapped up a 4-1 win.

Starc, meanwhile, could miss at least part of Australia's Test series against India in  February after suffering tendon damage to his left middle finger in the Boxing Day Test against South Africa.

The 32-year-old will miss the third Test of the series against the Proteas which begins in Sydney on Tuesday and the injury has put his presence in the blockbuster series in India in jeopardy as he cannot straighten his injured digit.

'From the scans the other day, the tendon’s basically gone from the top of the finger, so I can’t straighten it or any of that,' he told the Australian Associated Press last week.

The initial prognosis for Starc is to be out for six weeks, during which he would not be able to bowl as his injury requires him wearing a splint.

That would leave him facing an almost impossible race against the clock to be fit for the opening Test in Nagpur on February 9.