Mitchell Starc wants to play all five Tests against India but won’t lock it in

Not a single one of seven Tests last summer went the full five days which was a luxury Australia’s fast bowlers may not get against India.

Tests going the distance between Australia and India could determine whether Mitchell Starc can shoulder the full load of all five matches despite declaring he’s feeling “the best I’ve felt in a while” after a star turn at the MCG.

Starc and fellow first-choice quicks Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins played not just all five home Tests last summer, but then two more against New Zealand, a seven-match stretch which shut the door on other hopefuls including the likes of Scott Boland.

But after finishing with match figures of 7-116 in his first red-ball game since March, and what will be his only Sheffield Shield appearance, including a second-innings six-wicket haul, Starc, 34, couldn’t commit to going the full journey again this summer.

Not a single one of those seven Tests went in to a fifth day last summer, with the opening match against the West Indies requiring less than 100 total overs from the Australian attack.

While he said he couldn’t feel better and “the goal” was to play all five matches against India, the sixer of the bowling workload could be the deciding factor.

“Standing here before a series, it’s hard to say yes or no,” Starc said when asked if he would play all five games.

“That’s the goal and it was fantastic from the group to do that last summer, a few four day tests helped that. I can just focus on five and not seven. That’s the goal, that’s why you do all the work off the field.

Mitchell Starc bowls for New South Wales b (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

“I’ll be putting myself in the best position to play all five. If not, we’ve always had a squad mentality.”

Starc said Boland, who had three wickets in the match going in to the final day, was “hitting his stride” having recovered from an injury which forced him to miss a stint in English county cricket,n while NSW teammate Sean Abbott also took five first-innings wickets in his red-ball return.

“We’ve got some good stock and we’ll see where we get to for the series,” he said.

Starc said his preparation for the Test summer, consisting of the one Shield match and then white-ball internationals against Pakistan, was “ more than I have some years” and he felt well-placed.

“It’s been a plan in the background this year with Josh and Pat as well. Batters play a little bit more,” he said.

“I feel in a good spot, not coming off a lot of cricket.,

“I nearly got to 40 overs (36.5 at the MCG) which was probably more than the people off the field would have liked.

“Wickets aside, the rhythm was there and it felt the best I’ve felt in a while. Across the two innings it feels like it’s in a good spot at the front end of the summer.

“The little things I’ve been trying to groove feel like they’re coming together.”

Originally published as Mitchell Starc wants to play all five Tests against India but won’t lock it in