‘Is that an excuse for 4-0? Dunno' – Mitchell Starc hits back on Stuart Broad's 'void series' remark regarding last Ashes

With the Ashes series just around the corner, the mind games have already begun. The veteran Australian pacer, Mitchell Starc has now come up with a statement on Stuart Broad’s “a void series” remark. Starc invalidated Broad’s remark and said that the best facilities and environment were provided to the England side at the time of the previous Ashes when England visited Australia.

The pandemic affected most of the series which were played during that time and the previous edition Ashes series was played in similar situations.  Australia won that Ashes series by 4-0.  Broad earlier opined that the previous Ashes series was not a high-level performance due to the restrictions which were implemented due to the pandemic. The 36-year-old had already written off the series due to the absence of standard training facilities as well as travel and not being able to socialize.

"The definition of Ashes cricket is elite sport with lots of passion and players at the top of their game. Nothing about that series was high-level performance because of the Covid restrictions. The training facilities, the travel, not being able to socialize. I’ve written it off as a void series," Broad said earlier.

The Poms had the pool, and the gym: Starc

Citing this statement, Starc stated that England’s players had received several luxuries during that tour as the English side was asked to stay on the Gold Coast. The resort over there had the gym, and the pool, and the England team wasn't even asked to be confined to their rooms and the team even had their family members.

"The Poms had the pool, and the gym, they were in a resort on the Gold Coast, they trained at Metricon (now Heritage Bank Stadium), weren’t even confined to their rooms, and had their families there. Was that really quarantine? They were still allowed to play golf on tour. Is that an excuse for 4-0? Dunno. It was a pretty good series to be a part of,” Starc said while speaking to Sydney Morning Herald.

England and Australia will be locking horns in the first Test match of the Ashes, commencing on 16^th June 2023. Before that, both teams will be involved in different Test match actions. Australia is all set to play India in the Final of the ICC World Test Championship commencing on June 7, 2023, whereas England will be facing Ireland in a four-day Test match against Ireland at Lord’s Cricket Ground.