Mitchell Starc has fired an early Ashes warning, taking four wickets on his return to red ball bowling as Victoria reached 7-340 against NSW at the SCG.

Just 11 days out from the first Test in Perth, Starc worked his way through Victoria's top order on Monday to finish the opening day of the match with 4-91.

Peter Handscomb was Victoria's best, hitting his second century of the summer before being bowled by Nathan Lyon for 104 late in the day.

Lyon (2-65) also had Marcus Harris caught at bat-pad early, while Josh Hazlewood (0-54) got through his 18 overs unscathed and bowled with good rhythm. Loading Twitter content

But it was Starc who looked the most dangerous, playing his first Shield match of the summer ahead of an Ashes series where he will again be Australia's point of differ

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