Daniel Vettori confirms Mitchell Starc’s presence on 3rd day despite his shoulder injury that happened on the 2nd day of the Ashes 4th Test.
Daniel Vettori confirms Mitchell Starc’s presence on 3rd day
Mitchell Starc will be expected to bowl on the third day at Old Trafford despite landing heavily on his left shoulder and being unable to throw the ball to the field.
The Day 2 of the fourth Ashes 2023 Test was full pressure for visitors Australia. After scoring 317 runs on the board in the first innings, the Australians stood helpless with the fantastic batting of England. England scored 384 runs with the loss of four wickets when they were called on Day 2.
Apart from the batting performance from England, Australians could be in trouble due to the injury to star pacer Mitchell Starc.
Mitchell Starc suffered the injury when he dived at mid on the 65th over to block drive from Harry Brook. He stayed down but he was able to walk off with support after initially attempting to stay on the ground.
Starc returned to the field at the end of the following over, being able to bowl on the late session in the final session. But after chasing the ball for three deliveries later he was not able to throw and left the field again.
He received ice treatment and was not sent for a scan with a further match to take place on Friday morning. He also had discomfort in his left leg feeling pain for a couple of times while bowling and again, precisely after a dive on the boundary, but that was not a concern.
“I think the leg is good, no issues there,” Daniel Vettori, Australia’s assistant coach, said. “The shoulder, we saw what happened in the field, he’s currently got some ice on it and we’re pretty confident it will be right tomorrow.
It could be interesting to see what Day 3 of the fourth Ashes Test holds for Australia. The side would be keen on folding England out as soon as possible, limiting their total going into the second innings.
“He’s one of those guys who doesn’t like to spend too long off the park. But he got straight into a hot spot and three balls in a row came to him in the field and he didn’t quite feel comfortable throwing it. I haven’t actually spoken to him but that’s what it looked [like]. We’re all pretty confident he can bounce back tomorrow.”
Australia concerns more about retaining Ashes on the 4th Test itself on reaching the Oval. A poor forecast for the weekend might be their biggest strength, but Vettori insisted it wasn’t the thoughts to be in their minds.
“It all leads to batting exceptionally well in the third innings, that’s what will set up the rest of the game as well as how well we bowl tomorrow,” he said.
“We won’t have a chance to have a say on the result unless we do the next day well. England is in control, but if we can come in and get those final wickets for as few runs [as possible], then it sets up for that final innings, and the weather may play a part in that.”
Crawley was not ready to share any discussions with Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, but he is sure that they would be big with the lead before the end of the third day.
“I’m not sure, anything could happen with Stokesy,” he said, “but while there are two very good players at the crease Jonny Bairstow still to come, and good tail-end batters, I think the gameplan would be to bat once.
Maybe if we lose a couple of wickets early that might change but I’d have thought it would be to get a big lead. We are expecting them to bat well.”
