Ashes 2023 | Mitchell Starc’s wicket-taking ability will be critical to team balance, remarks Andrew McDonald
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has opined that Mitchell Starc will play a vital role in the upcoming Ashes with his wicket-taking ability. He also added that restricting England from getting boundaries will be key considering they prioritise playing with an attacking template in Test cricket.
After their recent victory in the World Test Championship final against India on Sunday. Australia will be involved in one of the fiercest rivalries in world cricket. The Ashes starts from June 16 and the selectors will have a tough call to make ahead of the fixture. With Josh Hazlewood returning to the side, the selectors will have to choose between him, Mitchell Starc, and Scott Boland for two spots with Pat Cummins an automatic pick.
Mitchell Starc might have made his case difficult as he turned out to be an expensive pacer in the WTC final against India. The left-arm seamer had the most expensive game of his career at The Oval conceding runs at 5.34 runs per over. However, Australia’s head coach Andrew McDonald is of the opinion that it is not a matter of concern and Starc’s wicket-taking ability will be crucial to the team’s balance.
"India showed good intent at certain times and the game went at high three-four runs per over. Mitch at times went a bit more than that and he generally goes at a fraction more than the other bowlers, and they complement each other really, really well. His wicket-taking ability is second to none. We've got to weigh all that up when we make decisions. But it's not a concern because we know what we're in for in the summer is slightly higher rpo and that's because of the grounds and the surfaces,” McDonald stated in the pre-series press conference.
"We value Mitch and what he's been able to do but we also value Scott and Josh and Patty (Cummins) is clearly an automatic pick being the captain and then you've got Nathan Lyon and Cameron Green in and around that. We feel as though we've got really good coverage and we've got some people here playing county cricket if anything should go wrong."
With a hectic schedule on the cards, Australia will have to put their celebrations on hold ahead of the series against England. The England batters will come up with an attacking intent this time around and so Australia will have to tackle the ‘Bazball’ adopted by the hosts. McDonald stated that restricting England from getting boundaries at regular intervals will be trivial.
"Probably the next 24 hours we will switch our focus as you will, in what you do to the Ashes and the first Test. We can't wait for it to come around. First was the World Test Championship final. Let's enjoy what the team's been able to achieve over the last couple of years and then get excited about Edgbaston ball one,” he added.
"So one thing that we've got to factor into England is how we deny them those boundaries. So there's a couple of things that we can potentially tidy up and take from this game into the next one, but different opponent. So we'll get back to the drawing board around that."