Starc Shows Australia’s Attack Remains Lethal Despite Key Absences

Despite missing Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood in Perth, Australia’s pace attack looks lethal. The star of their bowling display was none other than Mitchell Starc, who wreaked havoc on the England batting lineup from the start of the innings. He took 7 wickets by bowling smartly on the Perth surface that looked conducive for seam bowling.

Before the start of the test, many people were thinking that the Australian pace attack would be nervous, as they are playing without their two lead bowlers. However, Mitchell Starc did not pay any attention to this perception, as he showcased calmness both on and off the field. He knew exactly what was expected from him, so getting nervous or anxious was never an option.

"Not really actually, strangely quite calm for the week. Even till we got to the ground, still had the sense of occasion, but until we were out there for the anthems, and then first ball was when sort of the beans start to go." said Mitchell Starc while taking to the reporters.

The surface at Perth was not offering much swing at the start of the day. So, Starc decided to use the wobble seam to extract something from the pitch. Fortunately, it worked for him, as the majority of his wickets came due to the perfect utilisation of seam position.

"[The ball] was a bit like a hockey puck. It was out of shape pretty early. I don't think it was going to swing at all. It didn't really stay on axis. So those wobbles seemed to be the one to work for most guys through the day.” said Mitchell Starc.

I've said it before, but two of my best mates are two of the best exponents of it in the world. So to learn off Josh and Pat, I think I said it a while ago, but if I'd listened to those two a bit earlier, might have had it in the repertoire a little bit earlier." added Mitchell Starc.

 

Standing With the Team Despite Disappointing Batting Performance

The bowling performance of Starc to dismiss England was lethal, however, the effort from the Aussie batters was simply disappointing. They failed to handle the pace and bounce of the English quicks once they turned up the heat. Many said that the batters let down Starc’s brilliance, but the pacer refused to throw his teammates under the bus.

"I think we often sit here and see, last year it was a 17-wicket day, this year it's 19 wickets, we often sit here and say, it's the wicket or it's the batting, but I think both teams bowled really well. I'm sure both teams probably want to change, perhaps, their approach. But sometimes you can sit there and say, it's pretty good bowling from both teams." said Mitchell Starc.

After observing the batting performance of both teams, Starc understands that the bowlers will play a major role in the upcoming days of the Perth Test. This means they may have short turnaround times to recover and prepare for their next spells. The lanky pacer is therefore mentally ready to take on the challenge, as he understands his responsibility as the lead strike bowler in the lineup.

"It is what it is. Sometimes you're faced with that. I've played long enough to have trained the body to need to do that if I have to. Obviously, you always like to sit back and watch your team bat. Sometimes you have short turnarounds. It's just the nature of Test cricket and a tough day's work for both batting groups." concluded Mitchell Starc.