World News – UK – Aaron Finch evaluates Mitchell Starc’s options after rough treatment

While India is currently the team with a myriad of bowling issues, Australia is not without its own concerns. The boss among these is Mitchell Starc, who won the first two ODI games by 18 overs 1 to 147, as the Indian batsmen found him a little easier than his colleagues Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins.

With Cummins rested from the rest of the white ball games, Starc’s role may have to change based on the tactical needs of Captain Aaron Finch, but the captain largely understands a fast bowler, which it was among the world’s leading white balls Dealers for most of the past decade.

That’s not to say that in the 18 months since last year’s World Cup, Starc hasn’t fallen off in ODI performance in a manner similar to India’s new ball ace Jasprit Bumrah for doing it. In that time since the Cup, Starc has only claimed 12 wickets at 54. 25 in 11 games while 6 cost. 28 runs through series against India, South Africa, New Zealand and England.

« I think he’s fine. He wasn’t at his best, « said Finch. « You have to understand that his standards are way higher than what you would expect from most other people because he has been dominant for the past 8 to 9 years, especially in the white ball formats. He was great.

« So he would love to swing the ball and get it right early on, but the reality is if you are defending big sums and playing against good players they are going to come hard at you. So today there will be talks about what we can do differently. Whether it’s a tactical thing or if we use it through the innings. We’ll talk about it today. Definitely no panic stations here in my opinion. « 

The downside, however, is Starc’s development as a test bowler, as he has had the most fruitful period of his long career in a similar period. In eight tests since the end of January 2019, he has scooped no fewer than 45 wickets with 18. 42, with a staggering hit rate of 34. 8 balls per wicket. Finch acknowledged that it was easier for Cummins and Hazlewood to switch from IPL to white ball service at home while Starc prepared to charge overs at the Sheffield Shield for New South Wales ahead of the test plan.

« Sometimes switching back from T20 to cricket over 50 can be easier just because you almost have the intention and then you can just curb it a little more. He was still very good at bowling in the first couple of laps, « said Finch.

« From my point of view, and when I talk to other people about his technique and little things that are really overseeing his bowlers and the fast-paced bowling cartel, they seem to think he’s really fine. So it’s just a matter of time. There’s nowhere to hide in ODI cricket when you’re playing on really flat wickets with good opposition. « 

In a broader sense, Finch expected bowling and fielding to improve from game one to game two in Australia, and noted the outstanding catches of Steven Smith and Moises Henriques. He was equally pleased with Henriques’ crafty medium-paced overs in the middle of the Indian innings on Sunday night.

« Our field was definitely not up to date in the first game, » he said. « A couple of chances were lost. I thought it was much better in the second game. I found our energy and intent to be great. Moises and Smudge took away some absolute hangers that really turned the game around. Virat [Kohli] goes on and gets 130-140-150 or Shreyas [Iyer] goes on and gets a big score and they are likely to gallop towards 390. I think the way we threw our way through the middle overs was very impressive.

« India got extremely tough in the beginning. Obviously, as you’d expect to chase large sums of money, and we probably got a bit defensive very early on. Happens. The way [Adam] Zampa played bowling was excellent. Moises played seven bowling the other night. They were brilliant overs for getting out of him at this middle stage. It was a very simple game plan and we adapted very well to this wicket. So all in all they were pretty good performances. « 

As for David Warner’s replacement, Finch said he would balance the balance between promoting a current member of the team like Marnus Labuschagne and not touching the middle order, having worked so well with a strong platform in each of them had the first two games.

« The Middle Order has been working really well lately, I think it has played well in England. And it did a really good job on this series too, « Finch said. « There’s a way not to want that. Marnus is a class player. If we go great this way. Alex Carey, the roles of him and Maxy [Glenn Maxwell] at six and seven years old was really crucial and gives that middle tier a little more freedom to do their business and also be extremely aggressive. Those are a couple of reasons why I wouldn’t like to do this, but there are still a lot of good players we can choose for the role. « 

Combinations for the left and right hands are one of the topics Finch ponders. « It definitely has its advantages sometimes, » he said. « Especially with Davey and me we are so different styles of play. Whether LH-RH doesn’t make a big difference. For example, if you use [Justin] Langer and [Matthew] Hayden as the opening combination.

« They played so differently that you had to roll completely differently anyway, regardless of whether they are both left-handed, both right- or left-right. I think that compliments opening partnerships other than just that left-right combo. « 

Australian Men’s Cricket Team, Aaron Finch, Mitchell Starc, Cricket, One Day International, Indian National Cricket Team, Twenty20