"To win an Ashes in England would be a major milestone" - Mitchell Starc
Australian left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc said they are keen to achieve a Test series win in England after lifting the World Test Championship (WTC) mace. The 33-year-old rued the missed opportunity in 2019 when the result emerged as 2-2.
Australia were 2-1 up after the fourth Test of the 2019 Ashes series; however, they lost the final game convincingly. The Aussies also haven't won in England since 2001 when Steve Waugh and co. achieved the feat.
#OnThisDay in 2001, Steve Waugh and his all-conquering side scripted a seven-wicket victory at Trent Bridge to win the #Ashes in England.
Since then, no Australian team has managed to repeat that feat 🙌
Can Tim Paine and Co rewrite history this time? https://t.co/Q4mHxzWpcV
Speaking to The Guardian, Starc said Australia have an experienced group now who knows how to win in England and hopes to achieve it this year.
"We haven’t used the word ‘legacy’, but we’re an experienced group, have been together for a fair bit of time, had a good bit of success, and this is definitely something we’d love to achieve. Especially having missed out here last time [in 2019] when we drew that series. We want to go one step further, to win an Ashes in England would be a major milestone."
Australia will derive plenty of confidence from their WTC final win over India at the Oval. While Travis Head, Steve Smith, and Alex Carey were amongst the runs, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon stood with wickets.
"They’ve done it against different teams in different conditions" - Mitchell Starc on England's aggressive approach
Starc further stated that it would be interesting to see England play aggressively against Australia, keeping in mind the conditions. He added:
"The way England have gone about their cricket in the last 12 months, it’s not a fluke. They’ve done it against different teams in different conditions. They’re challenging the norms of Test cricket, certainly in the pace of play. For all the hype from outside, I still think it’s going to be based on conditions."
"If we have traditional English pitches, which nip around, and if the overhead conditions play a part, will they still be so aggressive with the Ashes on the line? The way they’re talking suggests yes, but whether we see it in practice will be another thing."
England broke several records on the opening day of the first Test in Rawalpindi 😯
Details 👇
#WTC23 | #PAKvENG
icc-cricket.com/news/2937286
England have lost only two out of their last 13 Test matches.