Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie backed Mitchell Starc‘s selection in the playing eleven of Australia for the second Ashes 2023 Test from June 28 at the Lord’s in London. It is noteworthy that Starc was part of the Aussie team that defeated India in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023 ahead of the Ashes 2023. However, Starc’s performance in the summit clash was not up to the mark, and he eventually lost his place in the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston a few days later.
Although Australia managed to pull off a close two-wicket win in the first Test against England, Gillespie advocated Starc’s re-inclusion in the team for the second game at the Lord’s. The veteran Aussie seamer cited rotating the bowlers to keep them fresh in a hectic series as the major reason behind his thought and also named the players who he feels should make way for Starc.
“Traditionally, you wouldn’t look to change a winning team but, because this is the most condensed Ashes series in history, of five Tests in under seven weeks, it’s important to keep your bowlers as fresh as possible,” wrote Gillespie in his column for Daily Mail.
“Yes, Starc can go for a few runs but if Australia were to employ similar fields to those they used on the opening day of this series, with three guys out on the fence, Starc will get protection and because he is a really attacking bowler – he tends to pitch the ball a lot further up than Test rivals, to get it swinging and bring yorkers into play – his team could benefit,” he added.
Gillespie further wrote that Scott Boland could likely be the player who would make way for the left-arm seamer and highlighted how England batters targeted the former in the first Ashes 2023 Test.
“And England’s approach to Scott Boland at Edgbaston might influence Australia’s thinking on second Test selection. It was a legitimate tactic that England looked to put Scott off his game, which is being disciplined, bowling line and length, bashing that same area on the pitch all day in a bid to hit the top of off-stump. They succeeded in hitting him off that by being ultra aggressive, scoring at more than six an over in the first innings and five in the second,” said the former Aussie pacer.
“I know their philosophy is to play this aggressive Bazball-type cricket generally, but it seemed England went up another gear whenever Boland came on to bowl and the introduction of Starc in his place would give Australia the chance to fight fire with fire,” he added.
