Mitchell Starc's World Cup built on 2015 footage
Mitchell Starc and his coaches spent months watching replays of his damaging 2015 World Cup as he aimed to replicate that form in this year’s tournament. The undeniable x-factor of this Australian campaign with the ball, Starc was player of the tournament in the Aussies’ last triumph with 22 wickets at 10.18.
Since then, the left-armer has experienced the rollercoaster of international cricket. A stop-start 2018 is thought to have hurt his preparations for last summer, where he lost his rhythm and confidence.
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“From a golden bullet point of view we’re basically trying to get him to feel like he did in 2015,” said Andre Adams, Starc’s bowling coach at NSW. “Because that’s where he feels like he was bowling at his best. We had a long look at the 2015 World Cup and trying to get it back to that kind of timing.”
Starc trusts Adams. The pair worked closely together last summer, as Starc shrugged off criticism to return to form in the final Test against Sri Lanka. While a pectoral injury in February added to the stop-start nature of his past 12 months, it gave the pair even more time to work on returning to the feel of 2015.
“Everyone associates certain movement patterns or successful deliveries with certain times,” former New Zealand bowler Adams said. “But it’s not just a simple case of let’s take it back there. First you have to remove the clutter. By that I mean he is getting frustrated. And that’s cool, that happens. You’re trying to break habits he has picked up.
“Then I grabbed what I saw from a technical aspect (in 2015). I don’t tell him everything I see. He has to break that down to what works for him. “Everyone says ‘he needs to do this’ or ‘needs to do that’. But actually the reality is how do we get him to do that? How do we get Starcy to get that timing back?”
Headed into Sunday’s game against India, there are signs Starc has bridged that gap. He claimed a wicket with his third ball against Afghanistan to start the tournament, replicating his wicket of Brendon McCullum at the same point of the 2015 final.
He bowled Australia to victory over the West Indies on Thursday with his difficult full-pitch bowling, claiming 5-46 in his first ODI five-wicket haul since the 2015 success.
“I’ve been pretty clear and calm in my approach to cricket in the last few months,” Starc said after the win. “The rhythm is starting to feel really good, and the things I’ve been working on the last few months are really coming to fruition.”