Shining Starc at home in one-day format

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 yesterday, a victory that would have come in spite rather than because of the efforts of the previous tournament favourite’s batsmen.

Quick Single: Black Caps prevail in nervy Eden Park epic

His 6-28, 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 7-20 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. 

Black Caps victorious in World Cup classic

It means that 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 in the wake of Australia’s one-wicket loss to the New Zealanders who now seem almost certain to finish the group stage on top of Pool A.

“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.”

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Johnson in action at Eden Park // Getty Images

That was certainly the case for Clarke yesterday after Starc had provided a glimmer of hope for Australia to defend its sub-par total of 151 by dismissing Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott with consecutive deliveries and troubling all-rounder Corey Anderson for two overs after the dinner break.

But even though Johnson had gone wicketless and conceded 52 runs in his initial four-over spell, and with the Black Caps sweating after the loss of three key batsmen and still 60 runs away from their goal, Clarke opted to bring back his trusted spearhead.

Quick Single: Clarke hails 'genius' Starc

Despite the fact that, as Starc revealed today, he had indicated to his skipper that he wanted to continue with the fourth over of his post-dinner break spell.

“It’s pretty tough to bowl a 10-over spell,” Clarke said when asked after the match about his rationale for preferring Johnson to Starc only for Anderson to take 14 runs from the first three deliveries of Johnson’s new spell to propel the Black Caps on the path to victory.

“It was more to give (Starc) two overs off, he was bowling beautifully and I knew that if we could find a way to get another breakthrough I thought Mitch (Starc) would have a huge opportunity to go through the tail, as he just about did.”

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Starc cleans up Grant Eilliott for a golden duck // Getty Images

It was a decision that was queried by television commentators at Eden Park, including Clarke’s good friend and vocal supporter Shane Warne who claimed: “I thought Starc should have bowled another one (over) if you were going to win the game.”

That came after Australia selector Mark Waugh had said in commentary: “I don’t think I would have taken Mitchell Starc (off), I would have bowled him straight through.”

“I think Johnson has looked a little bit short of match practice today, the ball’s just not quite coming out of his hand as he would have liked and I just think if Australia had any chance Starc had to bowl through.”

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A familiar sight yesterday // Getty Images

But while confirming he was keen to continue his spell before Johnson was summoned to the crease where he bowled two overs – one that cost 16 runs and a maiden – prior to Starc coming back and claiming 3-4, Starc dismissed any suggestion he had a problem with the captain’s call.

“Hindsight is a great thing,” Starc said today.

“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. 

Starc castles King Kallis // Getty Images

Especially in the limited-overs formats, where he found form with the Sydney Sixers after being dropped from the Test team following the second Commonwealth Bank Test against India in Brisbane.

"With white-ball cricket I know my game plans and I'm pretty confident with how I'm going with the white ball,” Starc said today.

“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."

While Starc is certain to maintain his place in the Australia XI for Wednesday’s match against Afghanistan at the WACA, it’s the lengthy travel schedule ahead of his team over the coming week that Clarke sees as the players’ biggest challenge.

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He claimed that it was not a failure to acclimatise to the conditions in New Zealand that was to blame for yesterday’s “poor” batting performance.

Quick Single: Clarke defenceless over 'poor' showing

But the contrast the lower, slower Auckland pitch provided to the fast, bouncy strip expected in Perth and then conditions conducive to batsmen at the SCG where Sri Lanka await next Sunday will provide more than enough food for thought to fill those air miles in coming days.

“Conditions are different in Perth but the advantage we’ve got is that we’ve played a fair bit of cricket there as a team and we know Sydney pretty well,” Clarke said.

“I think the toughest part of the next few days for us is the flying time.

“We’ve got eight and a half hours travel time to Perth (today) and then another five hours back to Sydney, so recovery is going to be the key.

“We’ll have time to train in Perth, and time to train in Sydney so we’ll get our work done but it’s also about being smart with our recovery and making sure everyone is fit and healthy and ready to play after a couple of really long flights.”