Ashes 2017: There is still room for improvement in bowling department, says Mitchell Starc

Mitchell Starc completed his five-wicket haul on the fifth day of the second Test in Adelaide. (Reuters)

Just when it looked England are mounting an unexpected comeback late in Adelaide, Australia bowlers turned on the heat again. The Aussie attack ended England’s resistance early on the fifth day, and bowled out the visitors with just 57 runs more added to the scoreboard. The hero for the Kangaroos attack remained left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc who completed his 9th five-wicket haul in Test cricket.

But the 27-year old believes that there is still scope for improvement in the bowling department. “I think the exciting thing is our bowling group can only get better. Obviously we’ve taken 40 wickets over the last couple of weeks and done some really good things but there’s still room for improvement,” the Aussie told reporters at Sydney airport.

Nathan Lyon, who is currently the leading Test wickets taker in 2017, also received words of praise from Starc. The left-armer said that Lyon’s accuracy in bowling makes it easier for him and other fast bowlers to go about their business on the field.

“Gazza’s (Lyon) bowling the house down at the moment and that allows the other three of us to just do what we do at the other end. Josh does what he does and allows Pat and I to bowl as fast as we want,” he said.

Australia have taken a strong lead of 2-0 in the series and are looking to lift the trophy by continuing their dominance at Perth in the third Test which starts on December 14. On the way to Perth, Starc said he hopes to find a track that supports fast bowlers. “Hopefully we see a nice fast, bouncy wicket, the WACA of old, and get stuck into that as a bowling group,” he said.