As if anyone needed a reminder, Mitchell Starc proved once again in Brisbane just how super he was.
But the champion left-armer is still human, and his opening spell on Saturday perhaps highlighted just how crucial the injection of two veterans will be.
After resting for only seven overs, having top scored with 77 in Australia’s mammoth 511 first innings at the Gabba, Starc was quickly taken on with the ball by England opener Zak Crawley.
Mitchell Starc roared to life in the final hour of day three, after his worst opening spell of the series.Credit: Getty Images
Appearing to show signs of fatigue and distress after battling in the Queensland heat, the 35-year-old’s first three overs were dispatched for 0-25 – the only time this series he had not taken a wicket in his opening over – before Scott Boland was brought on and clean bowled Ben Duckett.
Starc would eventually roar to life, claiming the huge wickets of Joe Root and Jamie Smith in the last hour of day three. Those book-ended Boland’s dismissal of Harry Brook, and followed Michael Neser’s caught and bowled scalps of Crawley and Ollie Pope, to leave England 6-134 and trailing by 43 runs.
“He’s a special player. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he’s the GOAT,” Neser said.
“The longevity of his career, as well, is something you have to admire. That last spell he bowled today was probably his quickest spell of the whole game. It just shows what an athlete he is, and what a competitor he is.
“It’s tolling. Starting at 2pm, it was quite hot out there … to back it up with the ball like he did is special, and I’m sure he’ll back it up tomorrow [Sunday].”
But that opening Starc stint, having batted for 35 overs, perhaps issued a warning of how great a burden he had carried in the injury absences of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Starc’s 56.5 overs this series – claiming 18 wickets – equate to roughly a third of the total overs Australia have bowled.
Even as Cummins declared in Fox Cricket commentary he would line up in Adelaide’s third Test, barring any hiccups, one telling admission made the recall of Nathan Lyon a must.
Cummins revealed he was bowling well in his recovery from a lumbar bone stress concern, but was yet to do so on consecutive days. The captain’s ability to get through his overs across five days, and threaten England’s top order, will be needed if Starc is to be afforded some respite.
“The first thing that happens is you could get a ‘hot spot’ as a way of explaining it, where the bone actually hasn’t cracked, but it is pretty bloody close to cracking,” leading physiotherapist Dr Kevin Sims said earlier this summer.
“If you were to stop and protect it and allow them to recover, it doesn’t progress to being a fracture. If you keep going through that, it can quickly turn into a fracture.”
Cummins can be confident, but not certain, his body will hold up until he gets through that clash.
Which brings us to Lyon.
Since Australia’s greatest off-spinner made his Test debut in 2011, 13 pacemen have garnered Baggy Green caps. Of those, seven have played fewer than five games, with the quartet of Starc, Cummins, Boland and Hazlewood beacons of consistency for the past four years.
And according to Sims, whose career includes 20 years with Cricket Australia and Queensland Cricket, Lyon’s unheralded fitness and ability to tie up one end had been a key factor in that consistency.
Nathan Lyon was frustrated by his omission from the second Test.Credit: Getty Images
Lyon, who bowled just two overs in Perth’s opening Test, was left filthy at his axing for the day-night Gabba Test in favour of an all-ace attack, albeit it gave Neser a third cap he feared would not come after tearing his hamstring last season.
Starc may get a reprieve at Adelaide Oval, given only one score above 400 has been managed in four Sheffield Shield contests at the venue this summer.
But with three Tests remaining beyond Sunday’s fourth day in Brisbane, preserving the star quick is a must. Lyon may hold the key to that.
“Everyone has a ceiling,” Sims said.
“He [Lyon] can bowl large volumes, and it allows fast bowlers to rotate through their spells, and that way, there’s always going to be an opportunity for some recovery.
“That’s what all the really good teams in the world have, someone they can rely on. He’s been crucial to the longevity of Australia’s attack.”
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
