Starc backed to come good in Tests

MELBOURNE: Mitchell Starc’s team-mates are confident he can transfer his incredible white-ball form to Test cricket after a World Cup in which he was named Player of the Tournament.
Starc has also rocketed up to take the No.1 ODI bowling ranking after starting the World Cup ranked seventh; in Test cricket he is well down the list at No. 31 after a summer in which he was again in and out of the side.
Starc swung the white ball prodigiously throughout the World Cup and his 22 wickets at 10.18 went a long way towards securing Australia’s triumph. He has joined such past champions as Glenn McGrath, Martin Crowe, Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya as a World Cup Player of the Tournament, capping off an outstanding year of ODI cricket.
His dismissal of New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum with an inswinging yorker in the first over of Sunday’s final was a pivotal moment in the game. On Monday, Starc was with his team-mates celebrating the win at a public reception at Melbourne’s Federation Square; on Tuesday he is likely to be named in the Test squad to tour the West Indies later this year.
Starc’s next challenge is to consistently swing the red ball in Test cricket and prove himself a matchwinner in a format that so far has brought him 50 wickets at 35.44.
Starc was the subject of criticism from Shane Warne during the Brisbane Test against India in December, when Warne questioned Starc’s body language. As has been the case throughout Starc’s three-year Test career, he spent the summer in and out of the side.
“His confidence changed and he made a couple of adjustments in that Sydney Test match and he bowled beautifully in that Test match,” Shane Watson said.