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Starc aims for early Ashes blow

Speedster also backs John Hastings to have a major impact in the upcoming Champions Trophy tournament

The resumption of Ashes hostilities is still more than 200 days away, but paceman Mitchell Starc is eyeing off a chance to land the first meaningful blow of the campaign in a little more than a month from now.

Australia and England will go head-to-head at Edgbaston on June 10 in their final group game of the ICC Champions Trophy, a match that will be crucial to each team's chances of progressing to the semi-finals but one that could have far greater ramifications heading into the Australian summer.

Quick Single: Full squads for Champions Trophy

Eight members of Australia's Test squad from their recent tour of India will be part of the Champions Trophy, as will returning paceman and Test contender James Pattinson, while England have named a squad that includes their new Test leadership duo of Joe Root and Ben Stokes as well as Test regulars Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes.

Starc rips England apart at SCG in 2015

The match will be played with a different coloured ball, in a different form of the game and in a different hemisphere, but Starc knows there will be more than just a semi-final spot at stake.

"Because it's such a short tournament, you basically need to win every game anyway," the paceman told cricket.com.au this week having resumed bowling for the first time since injuring his foot last month.

"So every game is going to be important, but with the Ashes on later in the year, there's always going to be a little bit of momentum there if we can knock the Poms off, especially in England, and if we can create a few headaches with our quicks especially.

"Both teams have got a fair amount of cricket between the Champions Trophy and the Ashes, but it's always important to beat the Poms whenever we play them.

"And hopefully we can create a bit of doubt or open up a few old wounds or find a few extra weaknesses heading into the summer back here."

While a one-day game early in the English summer is literally a different ball game to an Ashes Test match at the Gabba in late November, there's recent precedent that proves one-day form matters.

Mitchell Johnson's terrifying Ashes campaign four years ago began just two-and-a-half months after an instantly forgettable five-match one-day series in England, when the left-armer's hostile bowling rattled England's batsmen and exposed a short-ball weakness in their star No.3 Jonathan Trott.

And by the time Johnson dismissed Trott twice in the Brisbane Test later that year, before the Englishman returned home due to a mental illness, Australia's momentum was impossible to stop.

Watch Johnson's 37 Ashes wickets in 2013-14


South African skipper Faf du Plessis also credited his side's 5-0 ODI whitewash of Australia last October as being crucial to their shock Test triumph a month later.

Having boldly stated before the Tests began that the ODI victory would "leave a bit of a scar", du Plessis was in no doubt that the 50-over matches - for which Australia chose to rest star quicks Mitchell Starc (who later injured his leg) and Josh Hazlewood - played a major role in his side's stunning Test triumph.

"I took a lot of confidence from beating them five-nil," du Plessis said after the Proteas sealed the Test series in Hobart.

"The way you start in a series, it’s almost like you open those wounds up for the opposition again. It’s like, ‘oh here we go again’."

While any mental upper hand Australia could gain from their Champions Trophy clash would likely come from their hostile fast bowlers, Starc is quick to point out that Australia's attack boasts more than just a huff-and-puff-and-blow-your-house-down mentality.

The left-armer believes the guile and experience of John Hastings will perfectly complement the searing pace of himself, Pattinson and Pat Cummins as well as the accuracy of Hazlewood and provide some useful variety.

Hastings shows class against India

Hastings, the equal-second leading ODI wicket-taker in the world last year, has taken 32 wickets at 24 since making his return to national colours in the UK in 2015, when he claimed 3-21 in Australia's series-clinching win at Old Trafford.

A surprise omission from Australia's ODI squad last December, the 31-year-old has effectively unseated James Faulkner in the squad and Starc has warned Australia's rivals to not take the right-armer lightly.

"I think he's underestimated a bit in what he offers our team," Starc said. "He's that point of difference.

"He hasn't got the pace that the other four of us have, but he's got fantastic skills, he's got slower balls and he's really good at the death as well.

"He's really tall, he's probably the tallest out of the five of us, so he can generate that bounce. And in England, it'll be different conditions early in their summer, so that could play another part as well.

"So I think having five guys there who offer something different and you throw in (allrounders) Moises Henriques and Marcus Stoinis as well, we've got a good battery of quicks who can bowl serious pace, have some serious skill and have good experience bowling at the death."

AUSTRALIA SQUAD: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa

ENGLAND SQUAD: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

Ashes ticket sales key dates


May 1: Tickets on sale to ACF Gold members

May 3: Tickets on sale to all ACF members

May 8: Tickets on sale to the general public

Click here to join the Australian Cricket Family. FAQs about the ACF can be found here


2017-18 International Fixtures:

Men's Ashes Series


First Test Gabba, November 23-27


Second Test Adelaide Oval, December 2-6 (Day-Night)


Third Test Perth TBC, December 14-18


Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30


Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test)


ODI Series v England


First ODI MCG, January 14


Second ODI Gabba, January 19


Third ODI SCG, January 21


Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26


Fifth ODI Perth TBC, January 28


Prime Minister's XI


PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2


T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series


First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3


Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7


Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10


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