Mitchell Starc sends Ashes warning with Sheffield Shield hat-trick against Western Australia

UPDATE: THE first hat-trick of Mitchell Starc’s life couldn’t have come at a scarier time for England, but his devastating spell also enhanced the claims of the last batsman standing. WATCH

Mitchell Starc sent an early Ashes warning to England with a hat-trick against Western Australia.

THE first hat-trick of Mitchell Starc’s life couldn’t have come at a scarier time for England, and his devastating spell only magnified the claims of the last man standing down the other end.

West Australian opener Cameron Bancroft is somewhat the forgotten man in the jigsaw puzzle of Test hopefuls, but after another Matthew Renshaw stumble in Tasmania, Australian selectors suddenly have another legitimate option up their sleeve if they choose to wield the axe.

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Bancroft’s unbeaten 76 off 187 balls carrying his bat against the all-Australian NSW attack was worth a hundred, and the 10 he already has in the bank have him in good stead if Renshaw — who battled to just 19 off 109 balls for Queensland — fails in the opening couple of Ashes Tests.

The general feeling around Australian cricket is that Renshaw deserves first crack based on the impressive fist he has made of his 10 Test matches so far, but the fact Bancroft was selected as an opener for a Test series in Bangladesh in 2015 — only for it to be cancelled due to security risks — is proof that he has long been in the eyes of those in charge.

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Mitchell Starc sent an early Ashes warning to England with a hat-trick against Western Australia

For the past two seasons Bancroft has failed to deliver big runs when the heat’s been on and spots have been on the line — but that all changed on Monday as the 24-year-old right-hander gave a timely reminder of his talents as an opening option against the best attack in the country.

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“He was pretty patient. He did a good job to sort of grind through the tough period and come away with 70-odd not out,” said Starc, high praise from a man who had just completely decimated the WA tail.

“He’s been able to score a lot of runs for a couple of years now and he’s obviously had some time in England on some pretty sporting wickets as well. He’s come back and is doing a job for them up the top.”

Cameron Bancroft ducks under a bouncer. Picture: Phil Hillyard

Australia might be at sixes and sevens in their hunt for a new No. 6, but the good news is the bowling attack is cherry ripe for the Gabba.

Starc says despite making short work of South Australia last week and now leaving WA hanging by a thread at Hurstville, he and Pat Cummins are still likely to be rested for next Monday’s third Shield match against Queensland — and will instead train in the nets on the neighbouring field in Brisbane.

Starc tore through the WA lower-order to claim his Sheffield Shield milestone

After beginning his cricket journey as a wicketkeeper, Starc was delighted to secure only the 19th NSW hat-trick and the first since Doug Bollinger in 2014-15.

“It’s my first one as far as I can recall. I was a wicketkeeper so there weren’t too many options. It’s not a bad first one to get,” he said.

“They are taking the Mickey out of me for cleaning up the tail again, but someone’s got to do it. It was good fun.

“I was pretty happy with my rhythm.

“I am pretty sure they (the tail) all know where it is going, but they all keep missing it so I will keep bowling it for now.”

NSW leads by a commanding 260 runs, but the question is how long will they bat for on the final day before pushing for victory.

No. 6 candidate Kurtis Patterson will be hoping that’s still a while away, as he prepares to resume on 60 not out — alongside Australian captain Steve Smith who is in great touch on 74 not out.

Bancroft was happy with passing such a stern test against the likes of Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

“It was extremely challenging, they are quite relentless, they don’t really give you any freebies,” he said.

“I knew it was going to be hard work to score runs but it was a nice challenge.

“That’s what you build yourself up for, you want to be able to withstand playing good bowling and it was nice to be able to get some confidence doing that today.”

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Originally published as Mitchell Starc sends Ashes warning with Sheffield Shield hat-trick against Western Australia