The Ashes: Test fast bowler Mitchell Starc calls on Australian crowds to taunt England players
MITCHELL Starc has issued an impassioned rally cry to Australian cricket fans to seize on the Ben Stokes soap opera and put the mental stamina of England players to the sword.
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MITCHELL Starc has issued an impassioned rally cry to Australian cricket fans to seize on the Ben Stokes soap opera and put the mental stamina of England players to the sword.
Australian big names Starc, Mitchell Johnson and David Warner have been on the end of merciless taunting from Ashes crowds in the UK over the years, and the blunt message from the fiery spearhead is that it’s time to give England a Barmy Army-style taste of their own medicine.
Starc said “you can only imagine” the reception Stokes would cop from the Australian public if Bristol police ultimately clear the vice-captain of actual bodily harm allegations and he is part of the England squad for the first Test at The Gabba.
That prospect appears highly unlikely with England great Kevin Pietersen joining the chorus of those demanding Stokes be suspended, however as it stands the ECB are adamant no decision has been made on the all-rounder’s availability.
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The Barmy Army’s jovial reputation often belies the relentless levels of crowd abuse overseas players have been subjected to in the UK over the years, and whether Stokes tours or not, Starc has declared it’s time to fight fire with fire.
“Why not? Go for it. The Aussie boys will be backing you (fans) all the way in,” said Starc at a sponsorship announcement in Sydney on Monday for Mastercard’s new three-year partnership deal with Cricket Australia.
“You can only imagine (if Stokes comes). I’d love if he was out here for the Australian crowd to get stuck into him the way the Poms get stuck into our blokes there.
“Regardless of whether he’s here or not, the atmosphere is going to be great at all the grounds.
“On different characters, people take it differently. For certain guys, if they’re copping it in the crowd they enjoy the banter, they give it back and really enjoy that atmosphere and that banter both ways with the crowd.
“Other guys will go into their shell and it might affect their cricket.
“I know what’s happened to people. I’ve copped a lot in England as well and I’m sure the Aussie crowd will be giving it back to the Poms like they did to Broady and KP (Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen) the last time they were here.”
Starc indicated that he was disappointed not to play back-to-back matches from NSW over the weekend, with Cricket Australia taking no risks in making sure their prized left-armer is fit for the first Test on November 23.
Despite his wealth of international experience, Starc has never played a home Ashes Test and watched the famous 5-0 whitewash in 2013-14 from the couch, nursing an injury.
England great Ian Botham has roasted Australia’s side: “They’re not very good. One of the poorest sides I’ve seen for a long time. I wouldn’t be too bothered.”
Andrew Flintoff has also stated this is “the best England team we’ve had”.
Starc isn’t having a bar of it.
“Do you read into that or do you read into KP saying it’s the worst English team that’s been picked?” questioned Starc.
“I don’t know? That’s up to you guys (media).
“They can make what they want. They’ve got to pump up their team as much as they can, but for us we’ll just take it when they get on the plane and they get here. We’ll assess them and go.
“… It’s all talk until the action starts. We can sit back at the end of the Sydney Test and say then whether they were right or wrong and bag them then. But for us now it’s all systems forward … we can let the media talk and all the ex-players talk among themselves.”
Pietersen wrote in The Times that it’s not possible for England to allow Stokes to tour — and as a result, his former side can no longer win the Ashes.
“I can hardly watch the bit at the end, it is horrendous. That 45-second video is brutal,” he said.
“The more you watch it the more shocking it is. I have watched it with some influential leaders in business and the general view was: ‘you cannot represent your country with a video like that going around.’ It is a view I agree with.
“Australia is a hostile place and I don’t think with his personality, at least from what we have seen, I just don’t think it will work in Australia. Not this time.
“I wanted to look for excuses because I really like Stokesy and love watching him smash it (at cricket). As a bloke he is one of the real good guys in the dressing room. He is a funny guy, just the heart and soul of the dressing room. I want to feel sorry for him.
“He is one player but he is actually three players on that team.”
Originally published as The Ashes: Test fast bowler Mitchell Starc calls on Australian crowds to taunt England players
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