Australian spearhead Mitchell Starc has alarmed a warning clock for the English batsmen in the build-up of the Ashes with a stunning hat-trick in the Sheffield Shield match. Starc is returning in the competitive cricket after a break of five months as he last wore Australian colors during the Champions Trophy.

In the match between New South Wales and Western Australia at Sydney, Starc cleaned up the tale with his breathtaking Yorkers and picked up a hat-trick. He snared four wickets out of the last five and registered figures of 4/ 56. His hat-trick concluded WA’s innings at 176-all out, which gave a healthy 94-run first innings lead to NSW.

In the same match, Australian skipper Steve Smith remained unbeaten and scored 74 runs for New South Wales, thus they have extended their dominance by 260 runs. Josh Hazelwood was also returned after a good bowling outing as he destroyed the top-order of the opposition.

England must keep an eye over this shield match, where as many as 7 players are playing for New South Wales, who will definitely make through the playing XI for the first Ashes Test. David Warner, Peter Nevill, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are also playing this Shield match.

On the other hand, England is playing warm-up games to get some match practice before the opening encounter, which will commence from November 23 in Brisbane.