I'm looking forward to hopefully playing a longer period of cricket: Mitchell Starc

Left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc has targeted Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal saying the duo will be the two big wickets the Australians will be looking for. He also points out that the skipper Mathews, who is currently looking at ways to resurrect things after a dispiriting tour of England, will be under pressure to perform.

“Look, he’s under pressure,” Starc said of Mathews in Pallekele. “He’d be under pressure after the English tour and as a captain he’ll have to go through that pressure and perform as well. And that’s something that Steve, for us, does really well.

“He’s been fantastic as a captain and led from the front as well, so no doubt we’ll put a lot of pressure on Angelo to perform. He’s got to lead as captain, so he’ll be a big wicket for us along with [Dinesh] Chandimal. For their bowlers [Rangana] Herath is the most experienced one and one that we’ll try and counter.”

Starc missed a huge chunk of action in recent times to an ankle injury which sidelined him since November 2015. He has finally rid of the pain which he endured for so long and is set for a Test return against the Sri Lankans with a rejuvenated joint. Scans had revealed a 2cm piece of a bone spur at the back of the joint had come loose and was floating.

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“Having that (floating) bone taken out the back has done wonders for it. That movement has been fantastic, ever since I started bowling again after surgery. There has definitely been no pain there through the West Indies and through the start of this tour. It’s a fantastic result and I’m looking forward to hopefully playing a much longer period of cricket now.”

Starc came unscathed through the ODI tri-series in West Indies in June, and found some useful new-ball rhythm during Australia’s tour match at the P Sara Oval in Colombo.  Starc will be looking forward to ripping through the Sri Lankan side that has lost its three big names – Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan since – since he last bowled to them in Australia three years ago.

“It’s fantastic to not see the three big names line up against us,” Starc said. “There were a few tough moments with those experienced batsmen in the line-up. They’re obviously a bit light on [experience] in the Sri Lankan team. They are coming off a series defeat in England, but back in their home conditions, they know it best and they’ll be up for a fight.

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“We’ll have to be at our best, but at the same time if we can make some early inroads and expose that inexperience, we’ve definitely got a fantastic bowling line-up to go through them.”

No longer needing to worry about physical restrictions, Starc has concentrated on tactical and technical work with the interim bowling coach Allan Donald, with whom he also shares an IPL team.

“We’ve been working with Craig [McDermott] for a number of years now. To bring in AD (Donald) with a different set of eyes and a different set of theories is nice. It’s always nice to freshen things up and see what he’s got to offer on that topic as well,” Starc said. “We all reverse the ball pretty well, it’s just about doing it more often and getting it in those right areas here in Sri Lanka where it’s going to be needed a lot more.

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“I will always bowl my own way and if it means bowling a few yorkers here and there which I probably normally do anyway. It’s about getting that consistency a lot of us have had through the last 12 to 18 months. Josh Hazlewood has been fantastic at that, hitting a spot and really wearing batsmen down and taking a lot of wickets. I’m trying to get back to that consistency I had before I broke down.

“I was feeling really, really good through that Perth Test (against New Zealand) and even through the few overs I had in Adelaide was where I really wanted to be in Test cricket. I’m always going to attack and try to take those early wickets, and I’m happy to go for a couple of runs if I can take early wickets.”