'It's all rosy' – Starc on Smith, Warner return

Smith and Warner have joined their team-mates as they gather for a pre-World Cup training camp. It is their first time being part of the set-up since they served their year-long bans, and Starc is confident the transition will be smooth.

"It's onwards, upwards and focused on the World Cup," he said on Thursday, 2 May. "It's all rosy."

The duo were not part of the squad that swept Pakistan in the one-day internationals recently in the United Arab Emirates, but had been welcomed into the dressing room then to get a taste of things under coach Justin Langer and captain Aaron Finch. Starc, who was back home then, had not been a part of that meeting, but had his own interactions with them as part of their reintegration.

"We've all had our meetings and moved on," he said. "The meeting I was involved in with ... 95% wasn't about Dave and Steve and the group. It was more about where the team was going."

The former captain and vice-captain will go into the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 with the match-practice of playing the Indian Premier League. Smith, who struggled early on – a troublesome elbow doing him no favours – raised his game when he was handed Rajasthan Royals captaincy, while Warner was in blazing form, accumulating 692 runs at an average of 69.2 for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Starc, like so many others, was impressed. "He (Warner) has been on fire over there, along with Steve, so that's great for him and great for the group," he said. "He's a world-class player and we're excited to have him back."