Craig McDermott: Mitchell Starc needs to be consistent at World Cup

Mitchell Starc celebrates after taking the wicket of Axar Patel in a recent ODI match

Sydney, Jan 29 (IANS) Australia's bowling coach Craig McDermott said on Thursday their left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc needs to be consistent at the World Cup to give the host nation the best chance to clinch the title for a record fifth time.

"Starc is swinging the new ball well. It's certainly going to swing for him in Perth. He's a real weapon if he gets it right and the ball is swinging early. There's no point having two good games and two mediocre games," McDermott was quoted as saying by the dailytelegraph.com.au.

"We're going into a World Cup. We've got to put six or seven good games together in a row to make sure we've got the best attack on the park and we're knocking teams over."

The 49-year-old added that another left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson was slowly recovering from injury and has started bowling in the nets.

"His (Johnson's) rhythm looked good. He bowled all his different variations and everything came out beautifully," he added.

Australia start their World Cup campaign on February 14 against arch-rivals England in Melbourne.