Mitchell Starc too hot to handle as Black Caps crumble in Perth

Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon proved too much as Australia wrapped up a comfortable win.

Australian quick Mitchell Starc is congratulated by teammates after dismissing New Zealand’s Neil Wagner. Picture: AAP

Much has been said about the resurrection of David Warner’s batting after the Ashes, but the re-emergence of Mitchell Starc deserves time for reflection after Australia strode to victory late on the fourth day of the first Test against New Zealand in Perth.

When the tall left-armer hurried a sharply rising ball off the edge of opener Jeet Raval’s bat and into the safe hands of Nathan Lyon he became the bowler’s 20th scalp of the summer.

His 21st wicket, Ross Taylor, was further proof that he has come of age. Starc, considered too profligate for all but one Ashes match, has proved himself critical to the fortunes of the Australians — especially with Josh Hazlewood injured and unlikely to play the rest of the series.

BLOG: How day four unfolded

Starc finished with 4-45 on Sunday to give him a return of nine wickets for the match and 23 in three matches.

New Zealand were dismissed for 171 as Australia won the match by 296 runs.

Starc shared duties and glory with Lyon (4-63) who excelled here last year and did the damage to the Kiwi top order. Pat Cummins bowled well without much to show for it but was rewarded with two late wickets as the Kiwi tail crumbled.

The visitors were brave but up against it after losing the toss and finding themselves facing the Australians with a new ball under lights on day two.

On Christmas morning little boys and girls find out if they were judged naughty or nice, on Boxing Day the consequences of more immediate events in Perth will be weighed. The long gap between the two Tests will not necessarily alleviate the effects from four days of brutal cricket.

Both sides’ seamers have been forced to labour long and hard in 40C heat for four days, and both have been a man down.

The holiday season is a time when many families are reminded of absent loved ones.

Australia coach Justin Langer confirmed on Sunday that Hazlewood would not play at the MCG after tearing a hamstring in his second over of this game and that it looks likely Peter Siddle will be brought into the squad.

It is unlikely, however, that the Victorian will play, with James Pattinson and Michael Neser in the squad ahead of him.

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The few days break between Boxing Day and the New Year Tests mean the domino fall of consequences of the bowler breaking down in the first innings could continue into 2020.

“It always makes you nervous when a bowler goes down,” Langer said. “You always think about the implications for this game, but also the cumulative effect of a lot of overs.”

New Zealand have Trent Boult to bring back for the Melbourne match and will be returned to their attack of choice. Getting too far ahead of ourselves is, however, an act of disrespect for what has been a compelling game of cricket.

The Perth wicket is, again, the most exciting in Australia. It sets up a cruel juxtaposition: a game on the best deck followed by a game on what has a reputation as being the most dull. Nobody can ever again say drop-in wickets are the problem, but the maintenance, nature and vintage of such artificial surfaces clearly varies massively.

The hard, fast and deteriorating surface this match has been played on is like the WACA decks of yore, but better than any that stadium turned out in the past 10 years.

They may circle the wagons to deny the Fremantle Doctor but they have not found a way to protect the clay from the sun, which means cracks enter the equation and nothing livens an occasion like a bit of cracking.

It was only to be expected that the taller, quicker Australian bowlers would exploit the conditions but the performance of the more mild-mannered Kiwi attack has been exceptional.

The visitors arrived with a reputation for being nice guys, moulding themselves on their national hero Edmund Hillary.

Neil Wagner was born in Pretoria and educated at the Afrikaane Hoer Suenskool where he was a few years below AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis.

He was anything but nice in the contest with Matthew Wade, who had parked the pull shot and decided, instead, to greet anything short of a length with something resembling the shoulder charge which would have you sin-binned in rugby league or union.

Wagner bowled short, leg-side theory for much of the two innings and tested the batsmen. He and the more skilled Tim Southee — who picked up nine wickets — exploited the uneven bounce in the wicket. Wagner’s 60 overs was an ultra marathon effort in the most enervating of conditions.

Langer had nothing but praise for the way Wagner and co made the Australian batsmen battle.

“We were in a position where we were seen to be flying, but it’s a great lesson to the boys that you can never take it easy for one second when you are playing tough opposition,” Langer said. “Wagner, I love his energy, he’s a bit like having (Ben) Stokes. The way he keeps running in, it’s a great lesson to all of us. ”