Mitchell Starc who claimed a five-wicket in the second test against England says he has no problem with the high economy if he can pick wickets at regular intervals. The left- armer made an instant impact when he was included in the elven for the second Ashes test helping his team earn a hard-fought win.
Starc who replaced Boland in the eleven for his first outing bowled with pace which according to him is his strength. Starc said “There was a big [focus] on economy rates last time which plenty of guys spoke about throughout the tour, and we all bought into that.
And that was something that worked really [well] for us to retain the Ashes then, [But] it affected my approach certainly going back to Australia and losing some airspeed. It took away from some of my strengths and some of the role that I play in our attack he added.
‘Learning’ from Mistakes
Starc only featured in a single test match in the 2019 Ashes series where he claimed four wickets in a game that Australia won. Starc was overlooked by the team management on the previous because of high economy but this time he must do things in his own way even if it means missing test matches for Australia so be it.
The pacer has made it clear that he will not compromise on his pace. In the words of Starc, “I wasn’t going to change that this time, and if that meant I didn’t play, so be it. I was going to stick to my strengths and what I bring to the attack rather than trying to be someone like Josh [Hazlewood] or someone like Pat [Cummins] because that’s not going to complement the group.”
Image Courtesy: India Today
‘Walk the Talk’
Starc has redeemed himself somewhat by picking up 13 wickets in two matches. Although his economy of 4.43 has been a bit on the higher side any captain would take it as long as the bowler is picking wicking at crucial moments of the game.
Starc has found his rhythm in the two test matches so far. He might have looked a bit flat in his first spell of the series but has made huge strides since then and was on point from the first ball in the third test match at Headingly cleaning up England’s middle order in the first innings. Starc might have not won Australia the test match at Headingley but has certainly given England a lot to think about before the fourth test at Old Trafford.
Image Courtesy: ABP Live- ABP News
