Mitchell Starc should not be risked for Boxing Day Test, writes Russell Gould

THE Ashes are won and the urn has been secured, so Mitchell Starc doesn’t have to be risked for Boxing Day even though he really wants to play, writes RUSSELL GOULD.

Mitchell Starc is recovering from a bruised heel. Picture: Getty Images

MITCHELL Starc wants to play on Boxing Day. He really wants to.

It’s not often you get to crush England at home and as the leader of the pace attack Starc wants to keep his foot on their throats.

Melbourne cricket fans who only get to see one Test a year desperately want to see the best possible Aussie line-up too, and to see Starc continue to inflict his brand of pain on the hapless tourists.

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But that desire, from the crowd and Starc, should not cloud a view of the bigger picture. Australia, despite it’s demolition job on the Poms, is still the fifth ranked Test team in the world.

And the only way the Aussies will rise from such a lowly position is not by winning the next two Tests against an already demoralised opponent, but by toppling South Africa in March.

Mitchell Starc arrives at Sydney Airport on crutches. Picture: Jane Dempster

Starc needs to be fit, and fully fit, for that four-Test series.

A week is not enough time to recover from a heel injury for a fast bowler who drives three times his own body weight through his foot every time he bowls.

It’s not just the match bowling either, but the net sessions he’ll need to prove his fitness.

Every time he pounds down on his heel, which he bowled on as recently as Monday and would need to again on Saturday — that’s just a four-day break — he could potentially be doing more damage.

That’s not what Australian cricket needs.

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Everyone was salivating before the summer at the prospect of a fearsome four-pronged Aussie pace attack taking down England.

Then James Pattinson, who had endured his best ever run of fitness from the end of last summer through the winter, broke down.

He won’t bowl again until next year. Breakdowns can happen that quickly.

Starc has already endured foot issues this year, leaving the Test tour of India early.

He tried to come back for the Champions Trophy in the UK in June, but hurt his foot again, and missed the tour of Bangladesh as he recovered.

Starc is a rare weapon, as his 19 wickets through three Ashes Test so far has shown.

And he’s a weapon that needs special care.

Look after him to get the best out of him and when he tears through the Proteas in March, missing Boxing Day won’t be such a big deal.