Our attack’s up to task: Smith

NATHAN Lyon and Mitchell Starc must rediscover their missing mojos if Australia is to strike gold today in its exhausting quest for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

In an alarming sight for Australia, Starc appeared to be grabbing at his hamstring during and following his one over at India last night, but Steve

Smith backed the left-armer to play through any injury “and get the job done”.

Lyon (right) has had a quiet series by his standards, but three wickets on day five at the Gabba would not only clinch him his coveted 400 wicket milestone in his 100th Test, but would drive Australia a long way towards a famous Test victory.

With just seven wickets — at an average of 58.71 runs per wicket — it is one of the driest series of Lyon’s career.

But Smith’s assessment of the wicket, is that Brisbane will offer the bowlers plenty more than Sydney’s fifth day pitch, which seemed to flatten out.

“There’s a nice crack forming outside the righthanders off stump that he’ll (Lyon) be looking to aim at, I assume,” Smith said.

“It’s a nice line. I think if he hits good areas consistently tomorrow, there’s no reason why he can’t create some chances on a day five wicket.” Smith has also backed rookie Cameron Green to play a major role with the ball, despite the fact he’s yet to take a wicket in Test cricket.

“He might be quite a handful with the ball. Just his extra height and those cracks coming into play,” Smith said.

“I think he might be in for a pretty reasonable day.”

Starc, like Lyon, hasn’t been at his brilliant best this series, but Smith backed in the 30year-old’s toughness.

“I saw the same thing when he was walking back, he was grabbing at his right hamstring,” Smith said.

“I’m sure he’ll get it assessed by the medical staff and one thing I know about Mitchell is he’s tough and he’ll be hopefully good to go.”