Calcutta: He might have taken almost twice as many ODI wickets over the past year as his fellow left-arm namesake, but Mitchell Starc is quick to refute suggestions he has leapfrogged Mitchell Johnson to spearhead Australia’s World Cup attack.
Starc quite literally single-handedly bowled Australia to within a delivery of an unlikely win over New Zealand in Auckland on Saturday, a victory that would have come in spite rather than because of the efforts of the previous tournament favourite’s batsmen.
His six for 28, which included four direct hits on the stumps via fast, full-pitched deliveries that drew high praise from his skipper Michael Clarke, was the best by an Australian bowler in a one-day International since Andy Bichel’s seven for 20 against England during the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
“That individual performance is as good as you will see in any form of the game — good pace, good swing and most importantly very good execution,” Clarke said.
Over the past 12 months Starc has captured 32 wickets at less than 20 runs apiece while Johnson, Australia’s premier strike bowler and the reigning ICC Player of the Year, over the same period has taken 18 at a touch over 24.
But Starc is not about to claim the mantle as his nation’s most potent weapon as the team heads into the second half of the group stage of their World Cup campaign which they will look to re-ignite against a buoyant Afghanistan in Perth on Wednesday.
“Definitely not, Mitch (Johnson) is definitely the leader,” Starc said “He’s been a great leader for a long time and he’s been outstanding form for nearly two years now.
“He’s definitely our leader and the three or four young blokes in this World Cup squad are learning off him, and he’s the bloke that we go to,” Starc was quoted as saying by the Cricket Australia website.
Starc revealed on Sunday, he had indicated to his skipper that he wanted to continue with the fourth over of his post-dinner break spell.
But while confirming he was keen to continue his spell prior, Starc dismissed any suggestion he had a problem with the captain’s call. “Hindsight is a great thing,” Starc said. “I think I was blown a little bit, but Mitch (Johnson) has done it really well for a long time.
“I’m not the captain so if I get told to have a break I’ll have a break otherwise I’ll keep going. I asked to have another one but Pup (Clarke) is the captain and he’s been a great captain for a long time so I back every decision he makes.”
Starc’s capacity to swing the ball at around 150kph and unerringly fire yorkers into the base of the stumps has made him an invaluable commodity in the Indian Premier League, the KFC T20 Big Bash League and now in the 50-over game’s quadrennial showpiece.
His current streak of form comes after he has found himself in and out of Australia’s Test line-up over recent years but the 25-year-old claims the work he’s undertaken with Australia bowling coaches Craig McDermott and Troy Cooley is paying dividends.
“With white-ball cricket I know my game plans and I’m pretty confident with how I’m going with the white ball... I am at home with the white ball,” Starc said.
“Those couple of Big Bash games after the Brisbane Test were good for me to get that confidence back after a couple of bad days with the ball.
“I know my game plans really well with the white ball. I feel really at home with the white ball and feel like I really belong in the white ball team.”
