Sydney: Australia paceman Mitchell Starc is well on his way back to fitness and has warned England not to write off the tourists' chances of wrenching back the Ashes in July and August. The tall left-armer, who left Australia's calamitous tour of India early to have surgery on his ankle, is expected to play a key role in the first of two Ashes series this year on England's swing-friendly pitches.
Selected for the tour alongside fellow quicks James Pattinson, Ryan Harris, Peter Siddle and Jackson Bird, Starc will form part of a bowling unit expected to have to play out of their skins to make up for Australia's fragile batting. England won the last series convincingly 3-1 in Australia in 2010/11 and are strong favourites to retain the urn on home soil, especially after the Australians were drubbed 4-0 in India. Starc, however, is confident his first Ashes action will not be in a losing cause.
"Obviously they're pretty confident at the moment with some of the things I've been hearing," the 23-year-old told Sydney's Daily Telegraph. "We'll go in as underdogs, but we'll take that tag and run with it. We have a good chance to show our doubters how good we can be and come back with that urn.
"We're going over to win, there's no other reason we're going over. We've had our doubters, but we'll go over to win and we'll compete very strongly." Starc made his international debut in a one-dayer against
10:57 AM, May 03, 2013
Cricket Australia has named 20 players under captain Michael Clarke to its contracted list for the 2013-14 season which includes two Ashes series and comes following the team's demoralising four-Test defeat in India. ...
09:16 AM, Apr 03, 2013
The bowler picked just two wickets in the couple of matches he played in the series which Australia have already lost 0-3. ...
09:40 AM, Mar 19, 2013
Set a target of 133 after Australia's last wicket frustrated them for 18.1 overs, India won by six wickets to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. ...
11:37 AM, Mar 18, 2013
Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle dented India after they erased the lead, but Virat Kohli and Bhuvneshwar Kumar resisted with a stubborn stand. ...
11:40 AM, Mar 17, 2013
Mitchell Starc said the flat Mohali track has made the job tough for the bowlers as close to 700 runs have been scored in two days of play in the third Test. ...
07:06 PM, Mar 16, 2013
Dhawan became the fastest debut centurion in Tests by reaching three figures in 85 balls, and his stand with Murali Vijay took India to within 125 runs of leveling with Australia. ...
11:41 AM, Mar 16, 2013
MS Dhoni was unbeaten on a magnificent 206 and had added a superb 100 run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to take India to 515 for 8 at stumps on Day 3. ...
08:33 AM, Feb 24, 2013
The upcoming India v Australia series starting in Chennai on February 22 pits two transitioning teams against each other over four Test matches across the country. ...
03:56 PM, Feb 21, 2013
There has been talk of India holding the advantage against an inexperienced Australia, but the tourists could spring a surprise or two. ...
08:27 AM, Feb 21, 2013
Sharma cracked 77 and shared a 128-run stand for the second wicket with centurion Gambhir as India A piled up 338 for four. ...
07:10 PM, Feb 16, 2013
Arthur admitted the Australian selectors took the advice of scientists in weighing player wor ...
09:50 AM, Jan 14, 2013
Lee criticised the rotation policy stating one has to earn the right to play for Australia. ...
02:41 PM, Jan 12, 2013
Australia's Kane Richardson and Sri Lanka's Kaushal Perera are in line for ODI debuts at Adelaide. ...
10:32 AM, Jan 12, 2013
The left-armer's status for the remainder of the five-match ODI series remains uncertain. ...
08:31 AM, Jan 12, 2013
We sift through the numbers, wickets and runs to pick the XI most valuable Twenty20 international cricketers of the year. ...
08:51 AM, Dec 30, 2012
Watson developed a calf strain and will miss the Sydney Test, while Clarke also remains in doubt. ...
11:21 AM, Dec 29, 2012
Fast bowler Jackson Bird has been named to make his Australia debut in the second Test against Sri Lanka on Boxing Day. ...
10:14 AM, Dec 24, 2012
Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson took two wickets each and helped their team bowl out SA for just 225. ...
05:49 PM, Nov 30, 2012
Australia chief selector believes that CLT20 is adversely affecting the team's Test preparations ahead of the South Africa series. ...
11:44 AM, Oct 13, 2012
