He should have bowled for Western Australia last weekend but was given a one-match ban for showing dissent at an umpire s decision in the domestic second XI league, meaning he has not played first-class cricket since the Sheffield Shield final in March.
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“In an ideal world… we’d love to have Mitchell Starc playing against New Zealand in the Test series [in February]”, Marsh said.
“You’ve got to respect a bloke when he retires … you don’t go there”.
Australian all-rounder Nathan Coulter-Nile has learnt to keep his mouth shut in the wake of his recent suspension, saying he’s thankful the experience didn’t kill off his chances of making a dream Test debut against the West Indies.
The pair have been given the nod after Mitchell Starc was ruled out of the match which gets under way on December 10 due to a stress fracture in his right foot suffered in the third Test victory over New Zealand.
Scott Boland is on standby.
“So we’ve had our eye on him for a long time and we’ve been very pleased with the way he’s gone when he has played, but as you all know he’s also been a fast bowler who hasn’t been injury-free”.
Peter Siddle’s sore back was scanned on Tuesday, while team medicos have been anxious about Josh Hazlewood’s workloads since the first Test against New Zealand.
“But … they just don’t get through a lot of Test matches in a row”.
Hazlewood is in career-best form but will nearly certainly be rested from at least one of the upcoming Tests against the West Indies. “I don’t think that will happen”.
Pat Cummins, another promising young fast bowler, remains sidelined with a serious back injury, while Mitchell Johnson’s retirement has further stretched Australia’s fast bowling resources. He will play for Victoria in the Sheffield Shield round starting this Sunday unless Cricket Australia summon him to Hobart.
“I guess we’re at the situation now where because of the two Mitchells, one retiring and one being injured, that we do need a bit of pace up front. We’ve been very pleased with the way he’s played when he has played”, selector Rod Marsh told reporters.
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“If we come up now with a good attack for this Test match, which we think we have, and for the following two Test matches, and the one after that and the one after that, we’ll have called on a lot of fast bowlers”.
