Under-cooked Starc faces ringwise Amla
Australia holds breath over readiness of NSW express
AS with David Beckham’s foot injury ahead of the 2002 World Cup when England prayed for “Golden Balls” to recover in time, so too has Mitchell Starc’s leg injury assumed national importance in Australia.
With Australians having to contend with the shock of watching their world champion team slump to a first-ever 5-0 one-day international series whitewash to the Proteas, and having not yet fully recovered from a 3-0 Test drubbing in Sri Lanka, all hope is now being placed on the left-arm pace spearhead in the looming three-Test series against South Africa.
Starc was rested for the mauling in SA. And then he sustained a freak leg injury which ultimately required 30 stitches. His much-anticipated return is being treated as a chance for the Aussies to right their recent wrongs.
However, the 26-year-old remains a long way from full fitness and was only due to have a first competitive bowl today in a Sheffield Shield match for his state side New South Wales under the watchful eye of his Test captain Steve Smith.
Although the left-arm fast bowler will only be able to bowl a maximum of 15 overs and is unable to slide in the field as yet, due to his injury still being “raw”, Smith, in particular, is confident that his main attacking weapon will be ready to line-up at the Waca in Perth next Thursday.
“I’ll take care of him and make sure he’s okay for that first Test match. It’s exciting to see him back on the park,” Smith said yesterday. “He hasn’t done as much bowling as we would have liked to get into his body so he’s going to be on some restrictions this week. He’s bowled the last couple of weeks. He feels like the ball is coming out really well.”
Starc’s presence in the Australian line-up is crucial, as Smith’s ODI attack lacked genuine pace and allround penetration. Starc is the only Aussie bowler who can get up to 150km/h with his deliveries, and also possesses a potent in-swinging yorker to the right-hander and a venomous bouncer.
Having such heavy artillery in your arsenal is enough to trouble the world’s best batsmen, including Hashim Amla, especially due to SA’s former Test captain enduring a long-standing battle with Starc’s former teammate Mitchell Johnson. The latter, along with England’s Stuart Broad, share the record for dismissing Amla the most in his illustrious career (seven times each).
Johnson – a fellow left-arm quick – would often push Amla far back into his crease with a couple of stinging balls into the rib-cage, before following this up with a full delivery that would slide across the right-hander from over the wicket. Due to Amla’s feet being rooted firmly behind the crease, he was often unable able to transfer his weight forward quickly enough to play the intended cover-drive and would instead edge behind to the wicketkeeper or slip cordon.
Everything suggests that Starc will use this game plan.
He would be well-advised to get his accuracy spot on, though, as Amla has been equally destructive against the Aussie pacemen when they’ve lost their line and length. The “Mighty Hash” enjoys the extra pace and bounce of the Australian pitches, which allows him to play freely through the line of the ball both through the covers and square of the wicket.
Amla gorged himself on the previous tour in 2012 when he scored 377 runs across the three Tests at an average of 62.83.
This was even superior to his first visit in 2008-09 when he scored 259 at an average of 51.80. He is particularly fond of the Waca – widely regarded as home to the fastest pitch in the world – where he averages an imposing 76.75.
It was there, four years ago, where Amla and Starc encountered each other for the only time in their Test careers.
They both landed heavy blows for their respective teams with Starc recording figures of 6/154 in the Proteas’ second innings, but the knockout punch was Amla’s 196.
The Aussies were flattened, and not just by one wild right hook from Amla. Instead it was his flurry of uppercuts into the body interspersed with a few jabs to the jaw that came in the form of manipulating the field with good running between the wickets and some striking boundaries. It was more an ODI innings than a Test knock, to which the Aussies had no counter.
The Proteas will no doubt be relying on Amla to show a similar sort of intent during the coming series, while nullifying the threat that Starc possesses.
It will certainly be intriguing to see which one of these champions is left standing after this epic duel, as that player will most likely be on the winning side too.