Question mark over Mitchell Starc's availability for Melbourne Test

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, who bowled an outstanding delivery to dismiss James Vince in the third Ashes Test match in Perth, ended the game with a bruised right heel. Starc scalped five wickets in the match and helped hosts regain the Ashes. But skipper Steven Smith is unsure about Starc’s availability for the Melbourne Test. Joe Root’s men lost at the WACA by an innings and 41 runs.

Starc is the leading wicket-taker in the ongoing series with 19 scalps to his name. He has been named for the fourth Test but Jackson Bird might replace him, as Australia have already sealed the series. The pace trio of Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood were instrumental in Aussies reclaiming the urn.

“Having seen him just there, he just said, ‘I’m playing’. Whether he has a choice in the matter, I’m not sure, but he wants to play,” said Smith of Starc in his post-match news conference.

Smith in no mood to risk Starc

Smith said he doesn’t want to risk Starc’s career by pushing him for the remaining two Tests and added that he would love to throw the ball to him “I think he was a little bit sore. He said it didn’t get any worse when he was bowling, but I guess it’s something that we have to sum up. We’ve wrapped the series up here. We’d obviously love to win 5-0 and have the ‘Big Three’ [of Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins] going all the time, but we’ve also got an important tour to South Africa after this series, which we’d love to have him available for.

Smith said that Starc will be under observation and that the next two days will decide his chances of playing in Melbourne.“We’ll see how he pulls up over the next couple of days. I’m sure that will determine which way we go.”