Australia played Scott Boland ahead of him at Edgbaston, but there’s a chance he could feature at Lord’s
Andrew McGlashan26-Jun-2023It’s a sign that a tour is running smoothly when there are very few unknowns about selection for the next match. As with last week, the only question for Australia to answer is around the final make-up of their pace attack with Mitchell Starc waiting in the wings should a change be made at Lord’s.The likeliest route would appear to be that Starc replaces Scott Boland whose treatment by England at Edgbaston was termed a “surprise” by coach Andrew McDonald. However, two days out from the second Test the pitch was reasonably green and, should it remain that way, such a surface could keep Boland in the frame. There is promise of more pace and bounce at Lord’s than what was seen in Birmingham, which wouldn’t disappoint either side.The other scenario that may play out is based on whether the selectors are confident in playing Josh Hazlewood in back-to-back Tests early into his latest comeback. His workload was reasonably light at Edgbaston where he sent down 25 overs and there has been a good gap (of eight days) between matches.Related
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There is a reasonable chance that Starc could know his fate by the end of Monday, but either way, it is not a new situation for him when it comes to Ashes tours of England having played just once in 2019.”I’m used to it now coming to England. It’s a squad mentality, much the same as last time,” Starc said. “Been around long enough, been dropped enough. Probably dropped the most in this squad. Not something new to me, won’t be the last time, either. It’s never fun, everyone wants to play.”Starc was part of the Australia side for the World Test Championship final against India earlier this month before missing the cut at Edgbaston, although McDonald acknowledged that with hindsight he could have had a role to play on what was a docile surface.Starc claimed four wickets in the WTC final, including a brute of a lifter to have Virat Kohli caught at slip, but later conceded he had not been able at his best.”I came into that game feeling pretty good, but then my rhythm wasn’t quite there,” Starc said. “It’s been a good couple of weeks of work to get back into that rhythm. We were all better for the run after that Test final at The Oval and I certainly feel less clunky than I did throughout the game.”Hopefully, that results in some good stuff if and when I play. It’s all in good order, it’s just about getting some time in the middle when the time comes.”A look at the green Lord’s pitch a couple of days before the Test•Getty ImagesStarc’s Test experience at Lord’s amounts to one game in 2015, when he claimed two wickets in a big Australia win, but he was outstanding at the ground during the 2019 World Cup where he bagged nine scalps in two matches against England and New Zealand.Unlike some visiting bowlers, he has not found the slope that runs across the playing area to be a problem. “It’s probably more visual than anything, I didn’t find it too much of an adjustment because it’s got a slope,” he said.One other element that could come into play, should Starc make the cut for Lord’s, is whether he will take the new ball. In the second innings of the WTC final he was used behind Boland and Pat Cummins. It was only the 13th time in his career that he had not been among the first pair, the previous of which came in his lone appearance in the 2019 Ashes at Old Trafford.”There’s been a few discussions from a few of the guys playing county cricket and the way the Dukes ball is reacting this season, potentially the fact that you get eight to 15 overs into an innings and the ball actually starts to swing then, not when it’s brand new,” Starc said. “There was very little swing at Edgbaston for anyone because of the dryness of the wicket.”