Mitchell Starc hasn’t been in the best of form of late. He has lost his sharpness, which once made him one of the best Test bowlers in the world. Former Australian player Mark Taylor feels Mitchell Starc might be in danger of missing the Ashes series against England, which is scheduled to be played in the UK after the culmination of the Cricket World Cup.
Taylor wrote in a column for Fairfax, “Australia’s Big Three fast bowlers is on the verge of becoming a Big Two. Mitchell Starc’s membership is in danger of being revoked. This has not been a great summer for the big quick which is why it’s so important he gets something out of the final Test of the season.
“Starcy’s numbers – 15 wickets at 36 – are not awful but they do not show how inconsistent he has been. His pace is still up but control is an ongoing issue. There were spells in Brisbane where he bowled on both sides of the pitch, just as he did at a crucial stage in Adelaide.
“I no longer have him as a certainty for the Ashes, but as a probable. My issue with him in England is his inability to maintain pressure. He took a bag of six and five in 2015 but he leaked four to five runs an over in those innings and Australia lost comfortably. His higher run rate places extra pressure on the other two quicks to keep it tight.
“His advantage is that as a left-armer he gives the attack a point of difference but some of Australia’s express-pace quicks of the past, like Jeff Thomson, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, had higher averages in England compared to the rest of their career. Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, if fit, will go. It’s hard to leave out Jhye Richardson, who can bowl fast outswing.