Starc sizzles in Colombo warm-up

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc made an impressive start to the Qantas Tour of Sri Lanka in his first competitive red-ball hit-out in more than eight months.

Starc finished with 3-50 including five maidens, but of greater significance were the 17 overs sent down at high intensity leading into the three-Test series starting in Kandy on July 26.

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The left-arm speedster claimed eight wickets in five matches during the recent one-day international tri-series in the Caribbean, but yesterday’s effort at P Sara Stadium was his first extended stint with the red ball since undergoing foot and ankle surgery in December last year.

Starc started the day with a trademark yorker to set the tone early in what was essentially set up as a slightly more intense centre-wicket practice session.

Test opener Joe Burns was lured into a drive early on and his edge sailed safely into the gloves of wicketkeeper Peter Nevill for nine.

Captain Steve Smith was then welcomed to the crease with a brief bouncer barrage as Starc finished his initial four-over spell with 1-15.

While Smith (103 retired) and Shaun Marsh (100 retired) then went about their business largely untroubled, Starc managed to keep things relatively tight before returning in the evening session to bowl Western Australian allrounder Hilton Cartwright for 41 and fellow quick Nathan Coulter-Nile for 4.

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Another promising sign for the Australian camp was the way in which Starc’s pace and bounce continued late in the day, particularly with the second new ball when a pair of bouncers went flying over Nevill’s head to the boundary.

The 26-year-old quick was the only Test bowler to claim a wicket for the day, with young National Performance Squad paceman David Grant the other player to secure a breakthrough.

Stand-in bowling coach Allan Donald believes Starc holds the key if the tourists are to break their poor run of Test performances in the subcontinent.

"Starc's the one, without a shadow of doubt," Donald told cricket.com.au when asked who would pose the biggest threat to Sri Lanka’s batsman.

"He's a 150 (kilometre per hour) bowler, he's done it in the World Cup and in Twenty20 cricket.

"I've seen him destroy top orders, middle orders, lower orders doing that same thing from both sides (of the wicket).

"That's where he is at, and that's why he is the leading fast bowler in the world right now.

"He leads that from the front, he just needs to be backed up by the rest of the group so there's a lot of hard work over the next couple of weeks."

Starc is set for another opportunity to get some valuable overs under his belt when Australia take on a Sri Lanka Cricket Board XI in a three-day contest back at P Sara Stadium from Monday.