Mitchell Starc hoping Perth and Brisbane pick up Indian Tests in summer schedule shake-up

Walking out on to the hallowed turf at the MCG is every cricketer’s dream unless you’re a fast bowler. And that’s why Melbourne’s COVID-19 chaos and a summer schedule rethink has Mitchell Starc’s full attention.

Mitchell Starc says playing India on the bouncy wickets of Brisbane and Perth would give Australia a clear advantage.

There are many balls in the air for the Indian Test schedule, but Australia’s fast bowling cartel wouldn’t be too unhappy if they managed to escape having to break their backs on the lifeless MCG pitch.

Amid all the COVID-19 chaos, there is the potential that the Australian Test team might end up with their dream scenario — and that is Indian Test matches at the two blood and thunder venues, Brisbane and Perth.

Back in March, Australian coach Justin Langer told News Corp that his ideal scenario would be that India’s batsmen were forced to battle with the uncomfortable fast and bouncy conditions at the Gabba and Perth Stadium.

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At the time, Langer was giving that a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, but now the world has been turned upside down by a pandemic and suddenly Melbourne is racing against the clock to be able to hold onto its Boxing Day Test — as well as a myriad of other moving parts.

Currently Perth is scheduled for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, but there is every chance the Wild West could end up hosting Virat Kohli instead, in a Plan B that would have the likes of Mitchell Starc salivating.

Players love the Boxing Day atmosphere at the MCG cauldron, but from a pure fast bowling perspective — nothing gets opposition batsmen hopping like the former backyards of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson.

“Perth and Brisbane are two of the great places to play cricket. Obviously Australia has a great Test record at Brisbane and we saw a fantastic couple of Test matches over the last few years at Optus Stadium and a fantastic Test match against India the last time they were out here at that ground,” Starc told News Corp.

“They’re two wonderful places to play Cricket and we certainly wouldn’t be unhappy to see two Test matches there against India for sure.”

Starc is ready to go fast and the wickets in Perth and Brisbane are made for express pace.

Cricket Australia are still at least a week or two away from any decisions about the schedule, and many calls will be left until the eve of the summer. For example, there will be no rush to put a line through the MCG in the hope Melbourne will get on top of its COVID-19 crisis.

Competitive advantage is the last thing on Cricket Australia’s mind in juggling all the moving parts, but it might end up with some silver linings for Langer’s Test team.

“All I know is that whenever we go to India we never play on fast bouncy wickets or green wickets, we play on spinning wickets and we expect that every time we get there,” said Langer back in March.

“I hope we play India in Australia on fast bouncy wickets.

“I’d love to play two Tests against India at Perth and the Gabba. Purely from a cricket point of view that would give us a big advantage in my opinion.”

Australia's coach Justin Langer said back in March he would love it if Australia played India in Perth and Brisbane, but at the time it seemed a pipe dream.

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Australia’s white ball squad leaves for the UK on Sunday and will have to quarantine in Perth for two weeks at the end.

Starc says he and fellow Test bowling spearhead Nathan Lyon want their red ball preparations prioritised once they enter lockdown in WA.

“Looking at it from a Test point of view, guys like Gazza (Lyon) and myself, who are two Test guys who don’t play IPL … we’re going to want to make sure we’re being allowed to prepare for the summer and those two weeks after this UK tour are going to be important for that,” said Starc.

“Making sure we’re obviously abiding by all the rules from the Government, but we still want to be able to prepare and train and keep ticking over.

“The powers that be are working on that and I’m sure things will be put in place before we jump on a plane.”

Originally published as Mitchell Starc hoping Perth and Brisbane pick up Indian Tests in summer schedule shake-up