WARNE LETS RIP AT STARC

THERE has been a lot of talk about Australia’s batting after the first Test in Adelaide, and yes it needs to get better — that’s a fact.

But Australia should have won. They had India 6-127 on the first day.

I have always heaped praise on our bowlers, because I believe we have one of the best attacks in the world, but Mitchell Starc’s performance with the second new ball in both innings was really poor and he is under pressure to hold his spot if he bowls in Perth like he did in Adelaide.

I don’t believe Starc has found his rhythm yet at all.

So why on earth was he not playing Shield games, or grade cricket, or any cricket leading up to the Test to get that rhythm?

In the second innings there were 36 extras, and so many of them were so far down the leg side from Starc they went for boundaries.

It was unfair on Tim Paine for them to be listed as byes. There was no way he could have stopped them. If you are one of the best fast bowlers in the world, maybe you have a ball like that once a year. But he bowled at least a dozen balls like that through the Test match, both with the second new ball.

In the first innings he took eight balls with the second new ball to get one on the stumps. Then he bowled Ishant Sharma.

In the second innings, not one ball of two overs with the second new ball would have hit the stumps. And he was bowling to the tail. I believe we actually lost the Test match with the bowling with the second new ball in both innings. India should not have made more than 200 batting first.

Yes, Pujara played well. But the bowling attack we have, and the Indian lower order, which is really three number 11s to finish off, they should never had made 250.

I’m not saying it was easy, it was stinking hot, and the Aussies missed a trick not playing an all-rounder. It could have made all the difference on the first day having that fifth bowler.

I’m not saying Starc cost us the game. But if you are doing CSI-style, forensic analysis over the match and look for where it went wrong, you’d look at his effort with the second new ball in both innings. It was atrocious, the worst I’ve ever seen Starc with the second new ball.

Anyone can have a bad day, but for the whole Test, Starc did not look at his best.

And there is no excuse for anyone not to be at their best for the first Test of a summer. You can prepare any way you want, play as many games as you want, bowl as much as you want, do fitness work, have time off, and get that balance right.

I thought Hazlewood and Cummins were outstanding, but Starc has to lift.

In 2018, he has taken 24 wickets at an average of 34 in seven Tests, and he took nine in the first match in South Africa. So that’s 15 in six Tests at 47, which is not good enough for your leading strike bowler.

Starc has a lot of credits in the bank, but he needs to get better in Perth or he will be back playing Shield cricket.

To get back in this series, and to win, Australia needs Mitchell Starc at his best.