Starc prepared for Ashes rebirth

Mitchell Starc and Peter Siddle are vying for a seamer’s berth in the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester.

Mitchell Starc, who has yet to bowl a ball this Ashes series, during a net session in Manchester Picture: AP

Three Tests into this epic, shifting series and only now is Mitchell Starc any chance to bowl his first delivery.

Steve Smith’s pair of redemptive centuries on return at Edgbaston, his titanic clash with Jofra Archer at Lord’s, his concussion and his absence from the Headingley Test have all played out while Starc watched from the wings.

Ben Stokes’s performance at Headingley is still sending shivers down spines a week after he changed the course of the match and the direction of the series.

James Anderson has come and gone, threatened a return, then beat another exit with an injury that could spell the end of his career. Moeen Ali has quietly withdrawn and may not be seen again at this level.

Cameron Bancroft’s return to the game lasted just two matches and now Usman Khawaja finds himself facing an uncertain future in Test cricket as young batsmen arrive with promise more attractive than his established position.

Starc has watched with controlled frustration as Australia rotated the fast bowling positions through the first three Tests. Only Pat Cummins has played every match, while Josh Hazlewood, James Pattinson and Peter Siddle have each played two. Former England captain Michael Atherton argues the Australians must play Starc at Old Trafford because that is what England would like least.

The pitch is dry, the ball is said to reverse in the heavy Mancunian air and Starc is one of four seamers named in the side. Presumably Cummins and Hazlewood play, which leaves the left-armer in competition with Siddle and the conservative mindset that has been behind his absence from the first three games.

Selectors have to decide if they are bold enough to unleash someone like Starc when it is economic control they have craved. This has not been a happy series for batsmen. Few have held their heads up and Smith’s will be targeted by Archer when he makes his return.

Justin Langer believes every batsman is changed by a blow like the one he received, but argues that Smith, who is averaging over 120 in the series, is not every batsman. “When you get hit, it’s always a little voice on your shoulder,” the coach said.

“I also know about Steve Smith, and the really good players, you’ve got to have strategies to score runs and not get out — it’s the same to not get hit. You’ve got to have a good strategy, and he (Smith) works the game out better than anyone I’ve ever met in my life.”

Tim Paine is backing his former captain. “He’s been bounced a few times over the journey, teams have come up with all sorts of different plans” Paine said.

“It’s not new to him and I’ve said it before, that’s why he’s the best. He walks out there, he sees what’s coming and he can adjust quickly whether it’s short-pitched bowling, swing, seam, around the wicket, over the wicket, he has, over the journey, found a way to deliver when he’s needed to and we are expecting the same Steve.

“He’s been hit in the body and arm and head hundreds of times in his career. Nothing has changed.”

Smith is offended by the notion that being hit will change anything. Joe Root will be setting his fielders three quarters of the way back to the fence on the leg side and instructing Archer to bounce the batsman in the manner that proved so effective just before he was hit at Lord’s.

“There’s going to be a lot of hype around it, a lot of noise about that individual battle — and it’s exciting,” the English captain said.

“It makes for great Test cricket and I’m sure everyone in the ground or watching on TV will be glued to that scenario.

“Since Jof’s come into the side it’s added a different dimension to our bowling group and as captain it’s about getting those combinations right for each individual batter along with getting the spell lengths right and making sure they’re fresh when they come on into the attack. We feel like we’ve got a few plans in place for Steve, but he’s a good player and it’ll be interesting to see how he comes out and plays him (Archer).”

Talk of Mitchell Marsh being a chance to play this Test has proved to be as unfounded as unwise.

Leaving Marcus Harris where he has been since replacing Bancroft and leaving Matthew Wade in place is bad news for Khawaja, who has done just enough to keep alive hopes he will flourish at this level until this moment.

His returns are diminishing after 44 Tests and his future uncertain. Harris, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne will be among the ranks of emerging batsman who will make it difficult for the Queensland captain, who turns 33 this summer, to find a way back.

England have made one change to their XI with Craig Overton recalled to replace Chris Woakes.