Starc’s left-field route

Aussie quick joins women’s camp to prepare

MITCHELL Starc has credited his time with the women’s national team for helping him to prepare for the T20 World Cup.

In anticipation that he may not see wife and star wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy for up to six months over the summer, Starc joined the women’s camp for the recent series against India.

The Aussie quick said it proved to be a great way to ready himself for his own stint on the world stage.

“It’s a mixed bag of preparation for everyone, some have been playing some cricket, some have been trying to find ways to prepare for this tour,” he said of his teammates.

“For me, I’ve spent a fair bit of time with the Australian women’s team and Alyssa. That was a good period of mental and physical preparation for me.

“I’m feeling good about it.” While Starc was adamant he hadn’t been called in to coach, he said he was more than happy to pitch in around training when called upon.

“I was happy to be around where needed and if questions were asked, to give my two cents’ worth. I was happy to catch balls at fielding practice and be around in the background,” he said.

“They’re a fantastic group to be around. I was hugely grateful for them to have me around and to pass on a little bit of experience, certainly around the pink ball and white ball format for some of the young fast bowlers.

“They’ve got a great group of young fast bowlers coming through.”

Starc said he learned plenty from the experience, as well.

“They’re a team that finds ways to win from almost any position, even when they’re not playing their best cricket,” he said. “They’re a fantastic group off the field, there’s certainly no egos in that group.”

Starc believes there’s room for the women’s and men’s national sides to collaborate further in future.

“Both of our squads have the ability to start interacting a bit more and learning form one another,” he said. “The collaboration could be better between two really strong Australian teams going forward.

“Schedules aren’t the greatest thing for that, but whether we find certain times during the year ... I do think there’s certainly room for both teams to learn from one another.”

Australia begins its World Cup against South Africa on October 23. Starc is confident the Aussies have what it takes to match it with the heavyweights of T20 despite the haphazard preparation.

“We’ve got a really well-balanced squad that I think we all feel covers all bases,” he said.