Australia’s Mitchell Starc appeal unsuccessfully for the LBW of India’s Yashasvi Jaiswal during play on the last day of the fourth cricket test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia. (AP)
Mitchell Marsh, who has been struggling for runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is unlikely to lose his spot at Sydney with Australia selectors maintain that his fitness has nothing to do with his bowling which has been under utilized. If anything, the big concern for Australia going to the fifth and final Test at Sydney, starting on January 3 is the fitness of fast bowler Mitchell Starc.
On the final day of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, Starc had issues with his back and having already lost Josh Hazlewood to an injury, another blow with the series on the line is not what the hosts ideally want at this stage. But in Beau Webster, Jhye Richardson and Sean Abbott there are back-up options in the squad, but head coach Andrew McDonald and captain Pat Cummins remain optimistic that Starc should be available at Sydney.
“Anytime you get through the game, it’s always a good indicator that you’re a chance at the next game,” McDonald said. “It didn’t stop him. Clearly, there was a little bit of discomfort early on in spells, but once he got warm, it seemed as though he was pretty free. His ball speeds were good. We’ll see how everyone recovers. Bowling last, it was a pretty attritional game, something that we’re not used to in the last few years. Clearly Starcy’s carrying something of some description. We’ll assess that,” he added.
Apart from Starc, McDonald also touched on the issue surrounding all-rounder Marsh. “No, there’s no concern,” McDonald. “And I think people have probably been reading too much into that. We haven’t required him with the ball as often as what we would have thought. He bowled again today. His speeds are up in the high 120s [kph]. There are no injury concerns there.
“I think to sort of head that down that angle is a little bit unfair. We just haven’t required him at certain times for whatever reason, so that’s more a tactical implementation, as opposed to a body. I think the amount of overs that we’ve bowling across the series is probably going to be to a benefit to us.”
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