STARC SO BRUISING
FOURTH TEST Aussie pace ace sweats on fitness
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MITCHELL STARC is a major injury doubt for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne after undergoing a scan on his bruised heel.
The leading wicket-taker in this Ashes series arrived in Sydney for the scan yesterday still on crutches. “If it is up to me, I’m playing,” said Starc, who has taken 19 wickets. “But I think there’s a few other people in that conversation first.” Starc is due to arrive in Melbourne tomorrow but will be accompanied by Jackson Bird, who looks likely to take his place if the left-armer cannot be risked. His absence would be a relief to England, who are out to salvage some pride in the final two Tests after losing the first three. England opener Mark Stoneman has certainly been on the receiving end of the Aussies bowling attack on his Ashes debut. He has been hit on the head once, had two bats broken, hit on the body four times and on the gloves six. He shared a brutal spell with Joe Root in the second innings in Brisbane when his captain was struck on the head. In Perth it was Stoneman’s turn, Josh Hazlewood cracking a piece of his helmet in the first innings.
Belonged
Stoneman said: “It’s one of those things. You don’t want it to happen too often. “But you’ve three quicks coming in, you get one wrong and you wear it and crack on. “I was under no illusions what was going to be happening before I came on the tour and it’s pretty much lived up to expectations.” But Stoneman, whose nickname is Rocky, wants runs rather than praise for his courage. And he ranks his Ashes contributions to date – two halfcenturies – as nothing better than “all right”. He said: “Obviously, at 3-0 down, all right hasn’t been good enough, has it? It’s frustrating that there have been times out there when I feel I’ve belonged but I haven’t made the scores that are required in Test cricket. “We’ve made 50s and they’ve made 100s in the first two games and in Perth we made 100s and they made double-hundreds. That’s been the difference and that’s frustrating. “It’s great to be a part of but it’s just very disappointing about the results. It (the bouncer barrage) gets your beans going a bit and you certainly know you are in a contest. “But unfortunately, so far, I haven’t quite gone on to make the bigger scores that would make a better contribution for the team.” Stoneman certainly doesn’t think the final two rubbers are dead, even if the Ashes will not be going home with England. “The Aussies have momentum, which in most sports is key, and they are going to be coming at us looking for 5-0,” he said. “So that’s the first thing we’ve got to stop. I don’t think that any Ashes cricket is going to be meaningless. They are not going to be serving up half-volleys for fun just because they’ve won the series.”