Australian cricket fans are in for a surprise as Mitchell Starc has been dropped for the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston, with selectors preferring Scott Boland for the series opener in Birmingham. Boland, who was Australia’s best bowler during the recent World Test Championship final against India, has leapfrogged Starc in the pecking order after a stellar 18 months in the Test arena. Boland, picked in a full-strength attack for the first time in his Test career, will be joining captain Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood at Edgbaston this week.​
Starc’s axing comes as a shock to cricket enthusiasts as he has been a standout player in the past, being picked as the player of the tournament in the World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand in 2015. He is an X-factor, providing a crucial point of difference with his added speed and left-armed angle, but he has been struggling lately. Starc has now missed five of Australia’s six most recent Tests in England, having only played one match during the drawn 2019 series.
The New South Welshman confessed that he was susceptible to England’s ‘Bazball’ mentality, and that is where Boland seems to have the edge over him. Starc was the only specialist bowler to concede more than three runs per over during the recent WTC cycle. Yeah, they probably will (attack me), Starc told reporters last week. Mis-hits behind square tend to race away because of the quicker bowling. The role I play is more of an aggressive role to bring in those stumps and bowl those fuller lengths and create those chances.
Australia is expected to rotate their pace bowlers throughout the five-Test campaign against England. This means that Starc will almost certainly play a more significant role in the series than he did four years ago. It is a tough call on a player of Starc’s caliber, but the selection committee has a tough job to do. Starc’s the unfortunate man to miss out, Cummins said at the toss. Tough call on Mitch, I thought he was really impressive last week. It’s a good problem to have, having Josh Hazlewood coming in.
Overall, this decision shows that the Australian selectors are looking to build a team that can beat England, where the pitches will suit swing bowling, and Boland seems to have that edge over the highly-rated Starc. The Ashes is a highly competitive series, and with both teams looking to make a statement, it will be interesting to see how the series plays out. It is still uncertain whether Starc will make a comeback in the series or if the selectors are looking to rotate their pace attack throughout the series and use him in other games.
