While the former Australian captain Steven Smith is still running on suspension, Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc claimed that Smith is preparing himself to get ready for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in England which is just more than six months to go.

In this March, Steven Smith has been handed a 12-month ban by the Cricket Australia (CA) due to his involvement in the ball-tampering incident during the Cape Town Test. He will be available to play again next March.

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Australian pacer Mitchell Starc recently claimed that Smith is focusing for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup and preparing himself for it. As Smith is getting back his rhythm with the ball in hand in recent cricket, Starc hopes Smith can bowl a lot more when he will return to the team.

Recently Starc said according to sportingnews.com, “He talked about his grade cricket coming up and playing in the UAE League at the back-end of December. There wasn’t heaps (of talk) about the immediate future…there was talk about World Cup time and some line-ups there. He’s got a smile on his face and said he’s in career-best bowling form so we might see him bowl a lot more when he comes back in a few months’ time. He’s been around training and talking about getting himself a bit fitter. He’s in good spirits and it’s good to see him around with bat and ball in hand.”

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Since Steven Smith and David Warner have been suspended due to involving in the ball-tampering incident during the Cape Town, Australia’s performances have hugely declined in the international cricket. The five-time World Cup champions have won only two ODIs of their last 20 ODIs.

Observing the present situation, former Australian cricketer Mike Hussey has recently said that the present condition brings in a bit more of a selfish culture and environment in the team as most of the cricketers are worried about their place in the side.

Hussey recently quoted, “Unfortunately it brings in a bit more of a selfish culture and environment because you’re just worried about your place in the team.”

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However, Starc doesn’t agree with that comment as he claimed that it is the learning curve for the team and want to settle the team before defending the World Cup trophies.

Starc said, “No. I think it’s about trying to find our way to win games. It’s a learning curve for the Australian one-day team and we’ve got 13 games to settle on something with bat and ball and get some momentum heading into the World Cup.

“We’ve got (until) the end of March to get a lot better as a one-day team heading into the World Cup. We need to find our way to win cricket games and if that means going away from what we’ve done in the past, then so be it.”