Cricket news: Mitchell Starc set for crucial role in India despite painful finger injury
There is growing optimism Mitchell Starc can still play a crucial role on next month’s Test tour of India, even if he is forced to miss the first Test.
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There is optimism Mitchell Starc can still play a crucial role on next month’s Test tour of India, even if he is forced to miss the first Test.
Starc visited a hand specialist on Saturday in Sydney and arrived at the Prime Minister’s house on Sunday with the middle finger of his bowling hand in a splint.
The good news is it doesn’t appear Starc will require surgery, and if the splint does its job, he could be back bowling again in six-eight weeks.
Starc is arguably Australia’s most crucial fast bowler in the sub-continent and losing him for the Indian series would be a devastating blow to the team’s chances of creating history in a country they haven’t won in for 20 years.
Australia must find creative ways of keeping Starc bowling fit, without risking a bump to the tendon as it heals in the splint.
“I think as we sit here at the moment, the injury is what it was first diagnosed as,” Australian coach Andrew McDonald said.
“He’ll have an extended period on the sideline but at this stage there’s been no mention of surgery, just purely a splint and rest it up and get that tendon to heal.”
If Starc does run out of time to be fit for the first part of the tour it will open the door for another fast bowler to bank a place in the Australian attack.
Josh Hazlewood stands out as the man most likely to partner Pat Cummins if it’s a two-man attack, but replacing Starc with a like-for-like cannot be ruled out.
If Lance Morris is picked for the Sydney Test, it could double as a dress rehearsal for him to push his claims in India, with his extra air speed an obvious point of difference on sub-continental pitches that often offer little for the quicks.
Australia is confident Cameron Green will be fit for the first Test, but like Starc, medical staff will have to be creative in how they keep Green’s body ticking over for bowling while he recovers from a fractured finger.
“Yeah I am confident he will be fit with the time frames I’ve been given,” McDonald said.
“The challenge will be making sure we can be creative in the way he trains to make sure his body is in order to mitigate against something else going wrong, which is always the fear coming off an injury.”
HANDSCOMB IN LINE FOR INDIAN TOUR RETURN
Peter Handscomb is back in contention for a Test return in India next month, but for the time being selectors are comfortable with Alex Carey shifting up to No. 6 at the SCG.
Australian coach Andrew McDonald was giving little away about his XI to face South Africa for the Sydney Test, with several possibilities on the table, at least until selectors have a look at the pitch on Monday.
Perhaps the leading scenario involves wicketkeeper Carey being promoted in the batting order to substitute for injured all-rounder Cameron Green to allow Australia to pick second spinner Ashton Agar alongside a three-pronged pace attack.
McDonald confirmed there is no fitness concerns with Josh Hazlewood, so the make-up of the bowling attack will be entirely predicated on conditions and combinations.
Shortly following the Sydney Test, selectors will announce the squad to try and conquer India in India, and Victorian batsman Handscomb is one forgotten star, along with Matt Renshaw, who is back on the radar – with McDonald a big believer in the power of second chances.
Handscomb has had a brilliant domestic first-class season, a gutsy 82 in Bangladesh in 2017 shows his potential in the subcontinent, and status as a back-up wicketkeeper gives him another string to his bow for a touring party.
“Pete Handscomb no doubt would probably consider himself unlucky not to be in that conversation for Sydney, but there’s another one that is in the conversation for coming back into the Test fold,” McDonald said.
“Whether he’s on that Indian trip or not is yet to be determined.
“We’ve got Marcus Harris also. So we feel we’ve got that Test experience within that depth.
“Some will say the age profile is a little bit older, and potentially there are not as many youngsters, but we feel as though that experience is beneficial.
“There’s a lot of great stories of people having a taste of Test cricket going out and coming back in and being really successful. We feel as though the journey of these players is very similar and they’re the ones that have been putting their hand up at Sheffield Shield level as well.”
It’s clear selectors are keen on the idea of playing Agar in Sydney – not only to suit the dry conditions they expect to see at the SCG, but to get some crucial Test familiarity back into a player who hasn’t worn the baggy green in five years’ yet is in line to play the first Test in India on February 9.
Without Green in the team as an extra seaming option, playing Agar would most likely involve needing to move Carey up to No.6.
Carey has averaged almost 50 for the year in Test cricket, and off the back of a brilliant maiden hundred at the MCG, there could not be a better time to be promoting the reliable South Australian in the batting order.
“Yeah (I’d be) very comfortable. I think he’s shown he’s more than capable,” McDonald said.
“He played an incredible innings at the MCG. Some of his work in Sri Lanka was very impressive in those conditions.
“It feels as though his game is well rounded now. He’s got options for most of the surfaces and I think that an exposure up the order would be good for the team and also good for his game.”
McDonald said he was confident Green would be fully recovered from his broken finger in time to be back on deck for the first Test in India.
REVERSE SWING STUDENT STAMPS HIS SCG PASSPORT
Australia is set to unleash its most fearsome fast bowler since Mitchell Johnson, with Lance “The Wild Thing” Morris poised for a stunning Test debut at the SCG.
The once sensitive topic of reverse swing in Australia v South Africa Tests is back on the agenda, with an abrasive Sydney pitch shaping as Morris’ passport to his first Test cap.
Morris, 24, believes there is a “likelihood” he will be blooded on Wednesday, and his vow to bowl rapid 150km/h pace and ruffle up South Africa is making his debut one of the most highly anticipated by an Australian bowler in a decade.
Not since Johnson terrified England in the 2013-14 Ashes has Australia fielded a bowler capable of putting genuine fear into opposition batsmen, with grass unexpectedly sprouting on the SCG pitch his only obstacle.
“I’m feeling really good at the moment. Obviously there is that likelihood there just with the way things have panned out last week (with Mitchell Starc’s injury),” Morris said.
“I’m trying to stay as ready as possible and I’m pretty excited to get into it.
“I’m trying not to get ahead of myself just yet. I think from what I’ve been told there is that likelihood there.
“But you just never know. It’s down to the pitch conditions when we rock up and how they want to go about it.
“I don’t want to change my game too much so I’m going to bowl fast and enjoy it as much as I can.
“That’s got me to where I am now so I want to try and stick to that.”
Morris has spent the past week preparing for the prospect of a dry and abrasive Sydney pitch that is likely to suit a second spinner in Ashton Agar also being added to the attack.
Reverse swing is not a phenomenon seen often on Australian pitches, but it’s an art Australia believe Morris can master with his ability to bowl express pace.
The man he is replacing Starc is one of the greatest ever exponents of reversing the old ball, and now it’s a key factor in why selectors feel it’s important to replace him with a like-for-like express quick like Morris.
“There’s the potential of a bit of a reverse swing there with the pitch being a bit abrasive at times so I’m probably looking forward to picking up that role if that comes about. I think that would be a key factor if I do get a game,” Morris said.
“Generally speaking I’ll bowl an outswinger if I’m getting any movement. If the ball does get to the point where it’s turning the other way, that’s something I’ve been working on as well, that reverse swing element.
“I honestly haven’t had that much exposure to it being from WA. You don’t really get those conditions a whole lot, but I’ve had a couple of really good net sessions even with Josh Hazlewood last week, picking his brain with it.
“It’s been a good couple of weeks getting ready.”
Why Australia should unleash ‘Wild Thing’ at the SCG
– Robert Craddock
In a few years’ time Lance “Wild Thing’’ Morris could be a feared force around the cricket world … or he could be gone.
Or at least not what he is at the moment.
With Test cricket’s fastest and most furious bowlers you never know what fate awaits them which is why you should pick them when they are young, fast, fit and fearless – as West Australian speed sensation Morris is now.
Hopefully Australia will choose Morris as a like-for-like replacement for Mitchell Starc for the Sydney Test and put him in a five-man attack with Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Ashton Agar and Nathan Lyon.
This would require Alex Carey to bat at No. 6 but that is a small inconvenience for the luxury of having a look at two fresh bowlers.
It’s hard being an express bowler because things tend to go “pop.’’ A blown gasket is never far away.
Tearaway Jofra Archer is back playing for England and might play some of next year’s Ashes series.
But he has played just 13 Tests and many who follow him closely in England will be surprised if his total passes double that amount before the riches of T20 cricket take him down a less physically stressful path.
The buzz about Morris around the Sheffield Shield ranks is loud and clear. He’s fast and dangerous.
Even umpires are talking about him saying they have seen nothing quite like his fierce pace for a few years.
Australia needs to see what he has got because pace alone is never quite enough.
Brad Williams was the fastest bowler in Australia for a while yet he played just four Tests in 2003-04.
Morris’ Wild Thing nickname came in honour of South Australia’s pacy sling king Shaun Tait.
Tait’s best work was exceptional but although playing a major role in Australia winning the 2007 World Cup he played just three Tests.
Brett Lee was a rarity for the way he bowled express pace for 20 years and some teammates feel he was even quicker at age 18 than he was 10 years later.
That’s why a lot of former players like choosing raw quicks when they are young because they are often at their quickest before nagging injuries and the grind of professional cricket sets in.
The push to play Morris has been accentuated since Anrich Nortje roughed up David Warner with some 155km/h thunderbolts in Melbourne, reminding the cricket world of the virtues of cricket’s fastest and most furious men.
Few things excite a crowd more than the sight a fresh fast bowling force.
Sydney is the perfect Test to unleash the Wild Thing.
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