Yorkshire "excited" about meeting Starc

By Graham Hardcastle, in South Africa

Yorkshire are "excited" about the prospect of meeting a familiar face when they open their Champions League t20 Group B campaign against Sydney Sixers at Newlands in Cape Town tomorrow (12.30pm UK time).

The White Rose county will have to combat the left-arm fast bowling of Mitchell Starc, their overseas player through the middle of the 2012 summer, including the majority of the Friends Life t20 campaign. Starc, a rising star of world cricket, took a competition high 21 wickets, but did not play in either the semi-final or the final.

The Australian was a popular member of the Yorkshire squad, and they are desperate to see him return to Headingley in the future. "Mitch did fantastically well for us," said captain Andrew Gale, who has no reason to fear the 22-year-old. "He's taken the world alight in Twenty20 cricket. He had a great World Cup, and I believe he's someone who will get to number one in the short form at least.

"He's going to be a threat when we play against him, there's no doubt about that. But we're excited to play against him. I've always scored runs against him in our practice matches! We know how he bowls. He's got good pace, he hits the pitch hard, stands the seam up, and he's a threat to any team. He'll be a threat to us, but at least we know more about him than most teams will."

Yorkshire should know plenty about the Sixers, too. Not only do they know Starc's game inside out, but opener Phil Jaques has played with and against all of their players at state level in Australia. A resident of Sydney, Jaques believes how Yorkshire combat Starc and fellow quick Pat Cummins will be key to their chances of a victory.

"They're two young players on the rise," said the experienced left-handed opener. "They both bowl very fast. How we tackle those two at the top of the order and at the death will go a long way to setting up a win.
 
"Cummins is talented, although he's had a few injuries, which no one likes to see. He swings the ball both ways with a good slower ball and bouncer, and he bowls 150kph. He's got all the attributes. But the faster they bowl, the further they can go sometimes.

"They're a pretty solid team who have players who've played together for a while. These are guys I've played with for years. Most of them have been part of my state team (New South Wales). It's always good to play against your mates, and we'll obviously be trying to stuff them the best way we can.

"We're not here to make up the numbers, that is for sure. We don't want to be tenth in the world, we want to be the best in the world."

Sydney, the Big Bash League winners earlier this year, got their campaign off to a flying start with a 14-run win over Chennai Super Kings in Johannesburg yesterday, a success underpinned by a fine all-round display from former Glamorgan overseas player Moises Henriques.


Date: 15/10/2012 14:34:52 by Graham Hardcastle
In: Yorkshire | Today |