Aussie quick laughs off suggestions his team is unsettled by England's fight in Adelaide, saying it's the tourists who are hurting
Australia's Starc Ashes warning
Mitchell Starc has issued a chilling warning to England that Australia's in-form bowling attack is only just warming up as the hosts move in for an Ashes series kill at the WACA Ground.
Starc on Thursday laughed off England coach Trevor Bayliss's claim that Australia were carrying "some scars" from their second-Test win in Adelaide and said an unassailable 3-0 lead was on the agenda heading to Perth.
Bayliss believes England's fightback on night four of the pink-ball Magellan Ashes Test will have unsettled Australia, but Starc insists it's the tourists who will be hurting after collapsing to a 120-run loss in the "easiest time to bat" on day five.
"They had to give it their all during the week to get themselves into a position to have a chase in the fourth innings and to come up short," the pace spearhead said.
Starc is the leading wicket-taker this series with 14 scalps and believes he and fellow quicks Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon have developed into the best foursome he's ever been a part of.
Lyon has added 11 Ashes dismissals to take his world-best wicket haul to 57 in 2017, with Hazlewood and Cummins each snaring seven apiece to have England on the ropes.
"Having grown up together - Gazza (Lyon) is a bit older - we spend so much time off the field as a group as well," Starc said.
"We're really close mates so I think that shows in the way we play our cricket. We're gelling really nicely and we complement each other really well.
"Gazza's bowling outstandingly at the moment. That allows the other three of us to do what we need to do from one end if need be.
"And then Josh does what he does and allows Pat and I to bowl as fast as we want."
But Starc warned Joe Root's men to brace for even worse in Perth, where England haven't won in 39 years and have been crushed in their past seven Tests against Australia.
"The exciting thing is our bowling group can still get better," Starc said.
"We've obviously managed to take 40 wickets in the last couple of weeks and do some really good things, but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement.
"The same can be said of our batters, so it's a really exciting spot to be in."
Starc is licking his lips at the prospect of unleashing on England at the WACA.
"Obviously we won't know until we get there next week but hopefully we see a nice, fast, bouncy wicket," he said.
"Hopefully a WACA of old and we can get stuck into their batters again as a bowling group."
2017-18 International Fixtures
Magellan Ashes Series
Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.
England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.
First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard
Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard
Third Test WACA Ground, December 14-18. Tickets
Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets
Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets
Gillette ODI Series v England
First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets
Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets
Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets
Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets
Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets
Prime Minister's XI
PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets
Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series
First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets
Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets
Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets
Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14
Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16
Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18
Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21