Starc aims for early Ashes blows at Champions Trophy

Melbourne [Australia], May 1 (ANI): Australian pacer Mitchell Starc believes that his side's clash with England during the forthcoming Champions Trophy would provide them with an opportunity to knock of their Ashes opponents and carry on that momentum in the five-match Test series between two sides. The arch-rivals will face each other at Edgbaston on June 10 in their final group game of the tournament, which starts June 2, and Starc wants his team to win that game and find weaknesses of England going into the Ashes. "Because it's such a short tournament, you basically need to win every game anyway. So every game is going to be important, but with the Ashes on later in the year, there's always going to be a little bit of momentum there if we can knock the Poms off, especially in England, and if we can create a few headaches with our quicks especially," Starc told cricket.com.au. "Both teams have got a fair amount of cricket between the Champions Trophy and the Ashes, but it's always important to beat the Poms whenever we play them," he added. The left-arm pacer, who has resumed bowling for the first time since injuring his foot last month during the four-match Test series in India, said that they would look to create doubts in the minds of the English players during their Champions Trophy faceoff. "And hopefully we can create a bit of doubt or open up a few old wounds or find a few extra weaknesses heading into the summer back here," he said. Champions Trophy squads: Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa England: Eoin Morgan (c), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. (ANI)