Starc choice is Yorkshire ahead of IPL

By Graham Hardcastle

Mitchell Starc, who begins an initial five-week spell as Yorkshire's overseas player this weekend, turned his back on the potential riches at the Indian Premier League to come and hone his skills in county cricket ahead of next year's Ashes series.

Starc is a 22 year-old left-arm fast bowler from New South Wales whose action draws more than the odd comparison with Australian team-mate Mitchell Johnson. He has played in four Test matches, including the third Test against the West Indies at Dominica last week, and seven one-day internationals.

A former NSW team-mate of Yorkshire's Phil Jaques, he worked with Jason Gillespie on an Australian A tour to Zimbabwe last year and is set to make his bow in county cricket against Gloucestershire in the Championship next week.

"I was looking at a few options for our winter. There's IPL and all those sorts of things, which I was in the auction for," he said.

"I decided against it in the end because I thought the best thing for my game would be to go and develop in county cricket and play the longer forms of the game. With the Ashes coming up, it's a good chance for me to get some cricket in England.

"If I can help contribute to the lads at Yorkshire and help get them back up into the first division, where they probably should be, I'll be very happy. I'm very excited. I haven't been to the UK before, so I'm looking forward to getting over and taking on another challenge of adapting to the conditions."

Starc will leave Sydney on Friday after a couple of days rest and relaxation following an unenviable 56-hour journey home from the West Indies. 

"It's been a long trip home," he chuckled. "It was Dominica to Barbados, Barbados to Miami, Miami to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Sydney. There were a couple of delays in there too, but these things happen.

"I've just come off seven weeks in the Caribbean, where it's pretty warm. It's quite cold in Sydney at the moment, but I've heard it's a lot colder in Yorkshire. I'll be packing the woolies and hand-warmers for sure."

Date: 03/05/2012 10:50:38 by MBaldwin
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