Aussies face crisis if Starc goes down

AUSTRALIA are faced with the harsh reality that they are one Mitchell Starc injury away from being completely exposed this summer.

Batting frailties overseas have long been Australia’s achilles heel and national selector Rod Marsh yesterday officially put run-scorers on notice, with Mitchell Marsh, Adam Voges, Usman Khawaja and Peter Nevill all under serious pressure to make an impact on the scoreboard.

“If we lost one or two of the Test matches (against South Africa) I would predict changes,” said Marsh, who wants to see a Test hundred from his namesake and described Khawaja’s recent criticism of his selection panel as not “the smartest thing he’s ever said”.

But even so, it is the distinct lack of fast bowling depth that most threatens to derail Steve Smith’s side against two highly capable outfits in South Africa and Pakistan.

Though Joe Mennie has earned his shot at a shock Test debut in Perth, his selection in a 12-man squad does not answer the million-dollar question of where would Australia turn to if Starc, or even Josh Hazlewood, went down.

Starc is the one man in Australia’s arsenal capable of decimating an opposition and if he is struggling or unavailable, taking 20 wickets to win a match will prove a lot harder.

Six weeks sidelined with a horrific leg wound has significantly affected Starc’s preparation and despite the left- armer’s durability, he has never made it through a full Test summer and is yet to play in a Boxing Day Test.

Rod Marsh insists there is no issue with Australia’s No.1 asset being underdone.

“Mitchell Starc bowled 20 overs, there’s nothing wrong with him,” Marsh said.

Putting further pressure on Starc and Hazlewood is the lack of cricket Peter Siddle has behind him after six months out with a back problem.

Marsh is comfortable Siddle’s 13 overs for Victoria this week and significant experience will be good enough for him to play a role.

Siddle is an expert control bowler, but as a strike weapon he only has one five-wicket haul to his name since December 2013.

“I spoke to Siddle (yesterday) morning. He’s going great,” Marsh said. “(But) it was absolutely necessary that they (Siddle and Starc) played this round of Shield.”

Bowling vulnerabilities still don’t change the fact that Australia’s batting order is under the gun. At age 37, No.5 Voges appears to only be a couple of bad Tests away from making way for a younger option.

On big overseas tours against England last year and Sri Lanka recently, Voges has hardly fired a shot.