Mitchell Starc: World Cricket's Bowler of the Month, January 2015

January 2015 has had some incredible performances with both bat and ball. In South Africa, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander have been sublime as usual. Jason Holder showed some promise against the South Africans while Corey Anderson continued to grow into a solid ODI bowler. In the shortest format of the game, another South African, David Wiese, impressed by taking nine wickets in three games at an average of just 9.55.

But the award for bowler of the month goes to Australia's Mitchell Starc who picked up 17 wickets across all formats in five matches. 

Five of Starc's wickets came in a Test against India. He took a five-for opening the bowling in absence of Mitchell Johnson at an average of 28.40. There were other Test bowlers in January with better returns than him, but overall Starc had a very solid month and his best performances came in the one-day format.

He took 12 wickets in four games at an average of just 13.00 and an economy rate of 4.75. To put it in context, Starc has one more wicket than the second-highest ODI wicket taker in January (Corey Anderson with 11 at 27.18), but he played four fewer matches than Anderson.

His best figures included a six-for against India in Melbourne. He finished with figures of 10-2-43-6 as India were restricted to 267, with Rohit Sharma India's lone ranger, scoring 138 off 139.

Starc has steadily grown in stature in recent months. He has taken 61 wickets at an average of 20.62 in 32 ODIs and these figures compare favourably to Brett Lee (56 at 24.3), Glenn McGrath (46 at 22.54), Mitchell Johnson (51 at 23.39) and Craig McDermott (40 at 30.85).

His performances have led Pakistan great Wasim Akram to hail him as a vital part of Australia's World Cup campaign. Akram was quoted by the Sydney Morning Herald as saying:

"

He's got the ability, no doubt about it. He has the ability to make a difference. He's got the pace, he's got the swing and he's bowling very intelligently to the new batsmen, especially with the new ball.

"

One of the most impressive aspects of Starc's game is his ability to bowl yorkers at the death and his extreme pace. The youngster can easily crank it up to 150km/h and this is something which will be a great advantage to Australia.

The month he has had is in stark contrast to his efforts in mid-December last year, when he took 2-110 against India in Brisbane. He was dropped for the Boxing Day Test, but he has since bounced back to new-found vigour. This is just another reason why Starc has been elected bowler of the month. While players like Steyn, Philander and Anderson are expected to perform and almost always do, it takes a special player to bounce back after having a torrid time in the middle. Starc did that better than anyone else in January.

If Starc can keep this aggression going and capitalise on the Australian conditions, he will be a real force during the World Cup.