Heel injury puts Starc in doubt as Cummins defends bouncer use
Australia may be forced to make changes to their attack as push for Ashes whitewash continues in Melbourne
Mitchell Starc’s participation in the fourth Test at Melbourne appears in significant doubt after his pace partner Pat Cummins described the left-armer as only “50/50” to be fit in time.
Cummins, who also confirmed there will be no rethink from Australia’s Ashes-winning attack about their bouncer barrage for England’s tailenders, reported Starc has been on crutches to protect his injured heel.
Starc, the series’ leading wicket-taker with 19, seems highly likely to be replaced by Jackson Bird in Melbourne as Australia exercise understandable caution.
“He’s doing everything he can to get right,” Cummins said. “He’s been on crutches the past few days to try to take some weight off the heel.
“He’s absolutely itching to get out there and play, but [we’ve] got to make sure he’s right.”
Australia must factor in Starc’s availability for a fourTest tour of South Africa, starting in February, with their ambition to dish out a 5-0 whitewash to England as the Ashes having already been regained following the dominant victory by an innings and 41 runs in the third Test in Perth last week.
“I think that’s certainly part of the thinking of the selectors, the captain and everyone around him,” Cummins said.
“I know for him he just wants to play every game, but it’s a funny kind of injury.
“It’s not super common, but if it’s not treated well it can drag on for a long time.”
Whoever completes Australia’s attack as they try to augment their unassailable 3-0 lead, there will be no let-up against England’s lower-order batsmen.
High-profile observers have wondered whether the tactic is excessive and could be curbed by the umpires with stricter implementation of cricket’s Laws.
“Not at all - for us plan A is always ‘how can we get the batsmen out’, and at the moment for a few of their guys we think that’s our best chance of getting them out for the least amount of runs,” Cummins said. “Until that changes, our plans will [be] pretty solid.”
He does not see the likes of Stuart Broad or James Anderson as defenceless batsmen.
“I think they’re all pretty competent,” Cummins said.
“Broad’s got a Test hundred, and Anderson’s got an 80-odd.
“Starcy, [Josh] Hazlewood, Birdy and I knew we were going to cop it as well, so we spend lots of time in the nets working on it ... talking to other players about how to best defend it.
“I think I’ve copped about 50 so far this series, so we get back as much as we dish out.”
There is no “fast bowlers’ union”, as far as Cummins is concerned.
“It is a bit in the nets, but once you get out on the field, the gloves are off and there’s no alliances,” he said.
“I don’t think that’s ever changing. We’re all too competitive for that.
“It’s one of the thrills of bowling fast, trying to unsettle the batsman when the pitch might not have sideways movement or swing.
“I think it’s part of cricket and I hope it will always stay part of cricket.”
As for England, Jonny Bairstow said he and his teammates are determined to end the series strongly as a show of faith to captain Joe Root.
The team and Root’s tactics as captain have come in for criticism, and Bairstow said yesterday: “We don’t just owe him. We owe ourselves as well.
“You don’t come away and work as hard as we’ve worked to get nothing out of a tour.”
With the Ashes already lost, Bairstow said the focus was on the side performing well in both Melbourne and the fifth Test in Sydney, and that they should be treated separately to what has gone before.
“You can talk as much as you want to talk about the whitewash, but in our minds, it’s not on the agenda,” Bairstow, the wicket-keeper batsman said.
“In our eyes it is [now] a twoTest series. Let’s try to put things right that we haven’t previously and start with a clean slate.”
Broad is the main doubt for England going into the match with a knee problem.