Starc’s early-season form is getting people talking

There’s always whispers about Mitchell Starc. He is a lightning rod for opinion in Australian cricket. But the whispers going around at the start of this summer are generating some serious excitement.

Sean Abbott said he was trying to avoid being stationed in the slips because of how quick Starc was bowling. Victoria coach Chris Rogers, with five Test hundreds to his name, briefly joked about joining David Warner in offering a Test comeback before noting that watching Starc bowl made him rethink even joking about it.

Those whispers became roars on the first day of the home summer for Australia’s men. On another fast and bouncy MCG pitch, Starc had a field day. He took 3 for 33 from 10 against Pakistan, including three maidens. The last time he delivered three maidens in an ODI was on the same ground in 2016.

He beat both openers for pace. He lit up the stumps of a tailender. It was Starc at his quintessential best.

“It’s always nice to find that rhythm I guess at the front end of the summer,” Starc said after collecting player-of-the-match on Monday. “Probably didn’t have that rhythm in the UK tour, with a few moving parts and a bit of sickness getting around the group.”

Twelve months ago, Starc was just limping to the start line of the home summer, having somehow played 10 of 11 games in the ODI World Cup and contributed in the semi-final and final, despite carrying a significant physical issue that he has never wanted to disclose.

Saturday’s main training session at the MCG was instructive as to how much better he is feeling compared to this time last year where his preparation was severely limited due to the physical issue he was battling.

On Saturday he was in full flow in the nets. There was no inhibition. His only pause was to have a lengthy conversation about his load up with head coach Andrew McDonald and bowling coach Daniel Vettori. There was no angst or concern. He was merely describing a feeling and an internal cue that he wanted.

It is a sweet spot for a fast bowler to be. Fit, firing and pain free, with only a simple thought to worry about before letting another rocket fly.

“I think more physically, coming off a few issues through the World Cup into last summer in comparison to this summer, I sort of feel like the body is in a good space, and felt like I had really good rhythm, and felt really good last week in the Shield game,” Starc said.

“I’m not really tweaking anything, but just focusing on a few things technically. But I think the physical aspect of it, the body is in a much better place than last year.”

Starc confirmed he will play the next ODI on Friday in Adelaide but was cagey about whether he would fly to Perth. Josh Hazlewood will join the squad in for the second match against Pakistan after playing a Shield game for New South Wales in Sydney that finished on Monday.

It seems more than likely that both Starc and Cummins will avoid the trip to Perth before heading over there the following Sunday to prepare for the first Test against India. A decision on whether Hazlewood plays two games in three days in Adelaide and Perth will be made in due course.

“I expect to play in Adelaide, and then we’ll go from there,” Starc said. “It’s a few days between this one and Adelaide, a chance to play the golf and get ready for Friday. Different story between Friday and Sunday in Perth.”