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Australia in India 2012-13
Starc flies home for ankle surgery
March 19, 2013
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News : Starc spurred by ankle doubts
Players/Officials:
Mitchell Starc
Series/Tournaments:
Australia tour of India
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Mitchell Starc will fly home from India to have surgery on his ankle and will miss the fourth and final Test in Delhi.
Starc has been affected by bone spurs in his right ankle for some time and the problem was a key factor in him being rested for the Boxing Day Test against Sri Lanka, and while he was able to continue through the rest of the Australian summer and the Indian tour, the Australians are hoping an early operation will ensure he is fully fit for the Ashes.
Starc was one of Australia's strongest performers in the loss in Mohali, where he scored 99 and 35, and collected two wickets during a spell of impressive swing bowling with the second new ball in India's second innings. However, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy now in India's hands, the Australian team management decided that Starc's injury was best dealt with immediately to give him the best chance of being available for the tour of England.
"Mitch has been experiencing ankle pain related to bone spurs during the India Test series and whilst manageable, this represents an appropriate time for Mitch to have the surgery with a view to having him fully fit for the Ashes in late June," the team doctor Peter Brukner said. "Mitch will have surgery later this week and we'll assess his recovery as he returns to bowling."
Australia's coach Mickey Arthur said Starc could have continued playing but that could have been more of a risk than booking him in for the operation now.
"I think the dilemma with Mitchell Starc, as it has been throughout the whole summer, is he has these bone spurs," Arthur said. "They are going to snap at some stage - we just had to look for what we thought was the best possible window to get them done, or not get them done and just take the risk.
"We looked at it now and just thought 'this is a proper gap for us to be able to get it done, clean it out' so that he can come back with no gamble and no I guess injury cloud at all. It gives us a good window now to get it done properly. In terms of risk this was the best time. He'll be ready we're hoping by the Champions Trophy, if not he'll be 100% ready to go for the Ashes. We just thought it was the best time."
Starc's absence for the Delhi Test could bring Mitchell Johnson into contention to play his first Test of the tour. Johnson and James Pattinson will again be available for selection after being left out due to their failure to complete a team task in Mohali and while Pattinson is a certainty to play, the make-up of the rest of the attack is less clear. The pitch in Delhi is expected to offer significant turn.
Brydon Coverdale is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets here
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Brydon Coverdale
Assistant Editor Possibly the only person to win a headline-writing award for a title with the word "heifers" in it, Brydon decided agricultural journalism wasn't for him when he took up his position with ESPNcricinfo in Melbourne. His cricketing career peaked with an unbeaten 85 in the seconds for a small team in rural Victoria on a day when they could not scrounge up 11 players and Brydon, tragically, ran out of partners to help him reach his century. He is also a compulsive TV game-show contestant and has appeared on half a dozen shows in Australia.
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Excellent decision. He is just 23. One of the best among the new crop of OZ fast bowlers. His batting is a bonus. He could be a permanent member of the pace pack for nearly a decade, if not more. Has all the potential to be a good bowling alrounder. And, also a decent boy. He is definitely an improved version of the other Mitchell. Best of luck for a successful surgery and fast recuperation. From an old Indian cricket fan.
Starc and Pattinson have all the potential to become world class bowling allrounders. Starc needs some improvement in his offside play of fast bowlers and Pattinson needs some improvement in his footwork of spinners.They have the required talent, now the management needs to work on their batting. I think since Watson won't bowl, these two should bat at 7 and 8 and Australia should play 4 pacers and a spinner or 3 pacers and 2 spinners depending on the conditions.
Starc was very good with both the bat and the ball in Mohali. He will be sadly missed by the Australians. One way, it was a good strategy by Australians since they already lost the Series, they want him to be fully recovered before the Ashes. The other option is that Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson are available for Delhi test and they could choose both of them. My team for Delhi test will be: 1. Warner, 2. Cowan. 3. Hughes, 4. Clarke (if fit)/Khawaja, 5. Smith, 6. Watson, 7. Haddin, 8. Mitchell Johnson, 9. Siddle, 10. Lyon and 11. Pattinson. I think this team will be ideal for the Delhi test and I am confident the Australians will give a good fight.
Meety - I dismiss Siddle because he hasn't performed in the series we needed him to. An average of 35 at home against England, 38 at home against SA followed by an average of 33 currently in this India series is not good enough. This contributed in all of those series (along with Lyon and others) in allowing the opposition to pile up 400+ scores, which cost us both series and the no.1 ranking. I'm not saying Zampa and Agar should be in the starting XI, just the squad, but be honest, could they do ANY worse than Doherty or Lyon in the SA or India series? There's really nothing to lose. HatsforBats - McGrath did say that, but I disagree with him in that he wouldn't have been much more effective (if any). He's already IMO the greatest along with Marshall. Secondly, Steyn is great because his control is like Philander/McGrath, very consistent and he swings the ball both ways like Akram/Younis used to. He could drop his faster ball and still be great. He couldn't drop his control though.
Posted by HatsforBats on (March 21, 2013, 7:27 GMT)@Wefinishthis, I'm not worshipping at the altar of pace, but it is a tool to be used just like consistency, swing, and movement. Unlike those though, it can't be taught. McGrath said many times if he could bowl as fast as Lee he would. Part of what makes Steyn so great is his ability to suprise batsman with the quicker ball at 150+. Starc at 23 has shown more than enough that he has the goods to become an excellent test bowler. Faulkner also 23 is a great talent and will get his shot, but he is competing against Harris & Bird for a spot, not Starc, and he is not yet as good as those two.
Posted by Meety on (March 21, 2013, 0:49 GMT)@Wefinishthis on (March 19, 2013, 23:08 GMT) - I have no problems with your theory, but the execution is wrong. How anyone can dismiss what Siddle has been doing for the last 2 years is baffling. I was NOT a fan of Siddle, did NOT want him in the Test team in SL, but he has hardly put a foot wrong since & has the stats to back it. Zampa & Agar CANNOT be considered yet for Oz, they are JUST learning their trade, a perfectly good spinner like Lyon may have sufferred from too much International exposure too soon, & we cannot aford to repeat that with them. They should tour with the A-sides for at least another year & STAY AWAY from BBL or any other 20/20 League. I am happy with our pace stocks, but I have to start asking the question "Why is it only 3 batsmen that scored over 400 runs in the Shield had averages over 50?" One is a former great, another a back up Keeper & the 3rd (Hughes) - nobody wants to play for Oz! Could it be conditions? (TBC)
Posted byJayzuz - its a Test Match - the idea is to bat for 140 overs+ and see where your at then!! NOT to bat for 20 overs as Warner, Cowan and Hughes do.
Posted by Wefinishthis on (March 20, 2013, 12:12 GMT)Shaggy076 - I hope you're right, but injuries aside, I doubt very much the selectors will pick Harris in the starting XI again. They seem set in their ways on 'backing' the average bowlers like Starc, Johnson and Siddle because they think ethereal things like 'experience' and 'backing' are more important than actual talent. The obvious first choice lineup for the ashes is O'Keefe, Harris, Pattinson, Bird and whilst they seem to now recognise Pattinson as a starter, there just won't be enough room for them all to start the first test since they'll likely 'back' Lyon again along with Pattinson and inexplicably Starc and Siddle (the exact same lineup that failed embarrassingly in the first test India). If we're struggling to take 10 wickets for under 500 runs/innings as we have all series (which means we can't win), it's a problem with the bowlers, not our batting order which has been getting all the attention. Starc, Doherty and Lyon have been the major contributers to our downfall.
Posted by Shaggy076 on (March 20, 2013, 8:20 GMT)Wefinishthis; They are simply in front of Harris because until a fortnight ago he hadnt played a first class match for around 10 months. I got no doubt Harris will go to the Ashes and be part of the team.
Posted by Shaggy076 on (March 20, 2013, 8:15 GMT)Popcorn ; Your argument about the Argus review being the reason Hughes shouldnt be picked is seriously flawed. The Argus review was to pick the most inform batsman at the time and during the Sheffield Shield season Phil Hughes was the most inform batsman. Khawaja has been given sniffs of opportunities but never beaten the door down to cement a spot. It will come and Khawaja if he is going to be any sort of success at Test level will realise he still needs to do more and make sure the selectors cant pick him. If he cant realise this then he was never going to have the mental fortitude to be a success at test level. As for Warner I agree with Jayzuz here, Australia 2-0 down had to press hard for victory and it didnt work. I think Warner has showed significant improvement over the last 12 months and believe he will be a decent test opener.