Mitchells hold World Cup key: Warner

With all the talk focusing upon the plethora of brilliant batsmen set to ignite the World Cup, one of the most explosive of them all has listed two bowlers as the crucial figures in Australia’s campaign.

Speaking with cricket.com.au ahead of Saturday’s opener against England, David Warner identified a pair of left-arm quicks when asked who he considered was the player to watch for Australia.

“I’ll give you two,” Warner said.

“I think Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc are going to be the keys for us.

“It’s easy to say there’s a lot of batsmen to watch, but I think those two guys hold the key for our team.”

On current evidence, Warner’s selections are understandable, with Johnson the reigning ICC Cricketer of the Year and Starc having just been named the Player of the Tournament in the recent ODI tri-series against England and India.

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Johnson in action // Getty Images

Johnson now sits fourth on the all-time ODI wickets list for left-arm quicks, with 224 from 145 matches. Starc has collected 61 wickets in his 33 ODIs, and despite sitting 20th on that same list, boasts a better average (21.27) and strike-rate (25.5) than anyone above him.

Johnson is currently ranked fifth in the ICC ODI rankings, while Starc sits in seventh spot.

By any measure, it’s a lethal pairing, though Warner also pointed out other sides in the competition boasted similarly world-class combinations.

“If I was to say a batsman I’d say AB de Villiers (as the opposition player to watch),” he added.

“He’s fantastic in all conditions, he’s a world-class player.

“Bowling wise, I think there’s a lot of good talent out here … someone like Dale Steyn is always pretty handy.

“South Africa’s a great team all round – I see them as the benchmark to try and knock off.”

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De Villiers was pretty happy when he smashed a 31-ball ton // Getty Images

And while Australia did exactly that last November – prevailing 4-1 over the touring Proteas in an important psychological victory ahead of the World Cup – the South Africans can also point to a strengthened squad for this tournament.

Batsmen Rilee Rossouw and David Miller have both since registered their maiden ODI hundreds, while key middle-order batsman and JP Duminy has also returned to the side.

In addition, world-class trio de Villiers, Steyn and Morne Morkel all sat out of fixtures in that bilateral tournament.

For his part, Warner is unfussed about any of that; the man who has clicked into a new gear over the past year in Test cricket is intent on repeating the process of maturity in the 50-over game.

“I haven’t played a lot of one-day cricket,” said the 28-year-old, who has indeed played only 54 ODIs, scored three hundreds and is yet to appear at a World Cup.

“There’s been rests, there’s been drops, there’s been you name it. But … at this level … you have to keep scoring runs and churning them out.

“At the moment, the last 12 months, I’ve been doing that. I’ve got to keep doing that for the next five to 10 years.”

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Warner celebrating in Australia's warm-up win over India // Getty Images

Warner said he had no prospects of selection in 2011, before which he had turned out just seven times in green and gold, all in a period between January and August 2009.

“No, not at all. I had no expectations of being picked,” he said.

“I wasn’t playing as good as I know I could’ve.

“Times have changed, I’ve matured a lot with my game.

“I’m in a position now where I’m playing probably the best cricket of my career to date, and I’ve got to keep continuing in this form.

“I’m looking forward to (Saturday).

“Obviously (it’s) a home World Cup and where else better to start it off at (than) the MCG against England, so it’s going to be a great spectacle.

“We just can’t wait to get out there. We’re pumped.” 

Australia’s World Cup Fixtures

February 14: v England, 2:30pm at the MCG

February 21: v Bangladesh, 1:30pm at the Gabba

February 28: v New Zealand, 2:00pm at Eden Park (NZ)

March 4: v Afghanistan, 2:30pm at the WACA

March 8: v Sri Lanka, 2:30pm at the SCG

March 13: v Scotland, 2:30pm at Blundstone Arena

View the full fixture list here