Mitchell Starc says Hazlewood’s comments were Blown Right Out of Proportion

Mitchell Starc has described Hazlewood’s comments as remarks “That were blown out of Proportion” with the Australian fast bowler stating it was just a joke. He further called it a ‘throwaway line.’ Hazlewood had intimated that it would be ideal for Australia to eliminate England at the group stage by stretching their game against Scotland.

Mitchell Starc’s Statement

Starc elaborated on the issue concerning the statement made by his teammate, stating that this should not be viewed as the overall approach of the Australian bowlers. He criticized the edge received by teams who are placed last, for they already know what is needed for the qualification. “I think there's a big question to be asked about the preceding. I'm not sure I'm a fan of that, but no, I think a throwaway line's been blown right out of proportion by you a lot. You don't stuff around with mother cricket and try to worry about other results. We're here to win games, it's international cricket. England are now on the other side of the draw so it doesn't make that much difference for the next three games,” he remarked after Australia’s victory.

Despite the controversy, England won over Oman by eight wickets with 16.5 overs left. With this, they had a greater Net Run Rate (NRR) in the tournament as compared to Scotland. This victory took England to the next level of the competition, whereas Scotland who lost to Australia on 15th June was eliminated.

Australia’s performance against Scotland

The Australian team also got the chance to twirl their team a bit during the game against Scotland and give time to players such as Ashton Agar and Nathan Ellis. Starc continued to explain this strategy saying, “I mean we were in a position where we had plenty of options on the table and we had a chance to rest obviously the two big boys and get some game time into Ash as well.”

Talking about the surface, Starc commended the playing conditions saying, “I think that's the best surface we've played on so far. It's a very good wicket. We played here a few years ago in the COVID series against the West Indies. Some guys weren't on that tour that are here in the team so that was probably their first sight of it.”

The match was far from comfortable for Australia, especially in the context of reaching the final score. They required nearly 90 runs in the last seven overs. However, the brilliant innings of Travis Head (68/49), Marcus Stoinis (59/29) and Tim David (24/14) brought the match to an exciting end, Australia won the match in the last over. Starc acknowledged the stellar performance of the middle order stating, “I think we've got phenomenal power in our middle, well right through our order really, but when you've got Stoin and TD and even Wade in the middle there, they haven't had too many things to do the first few games.”

As the key players of the Australian team found their form at the required time, the team now appears to be optimistic and ready to step into the Super 8 stage. The statements given by Mitchell Starc appear to bring the focus back on Australia’s intentions and strategies for winning the upcoming matches while maintaining their form throughout the tournament.

Mitchell Starc says Hazlewood’s comments were Blown Right Out of Proportion

Mitchell Starc’s Statement

Australia’s performance against Scotland

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