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Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc is prepared to tolerate pain and play every game of cricket he can this summer before submitting to ankle surgery.
Starc, who says he has bone spurs that have broken a bit off the bone of the right ankle joint, wants to delay surgery at least until the end of the Australian summer, as having it now would end his season.
He started the home campaign in fine style with a career-best one-day performance of 6-25 for NSW against the CA XI in the opening round of domestic Cup games on Monday.
The 25-year-old left arm-speedster isn’t looking for a reduced workload, despite the pain caused by the problem.
“I don’t think rest is going to do anything, so I’d like to be available for all the games of this summer,” Starc said on Wednesday.
“We will keep managing it through the summer and if anything changes with how it’s going pain-wise and if it’s affecting my cricket then we will look at that option (surgery).
“There’s obviously a bit of pain in there, but as has been documented I’ve had a few cortisone injections in England, so at the moment it’s all going alright and I’m still managing it.
“If things change and it starts affecting my bowling and my cricket then we’ll look to go down that surgery path.
“But at the moment it’s all about trying to bowl as much as I can.”
Starc backed fellow paceman Pat Cummins to come back well from his latest injury issue.
“People forget he’s only 22, he started out so young,” Starc said.
“We need to give him a chance to get his body right and he’ll come back bigger and stronger.
“He was almost back to his best in that one-day series in England, so it was great to see him bowl really fast, take wickets and bowl really well for us.
“I think the fact he’s had to go through it before makes him stronger and he’s mentally tough.”
Player of the tournament at this year’s World Cup, Starc averages 19 per wicket in ODI’s but almost 32 in Tests.
“I’ve had a fairly long run with the white ball and guess I know my game plan pretty well,” Starc said.
“We’ve got Plan B, Plan C, if things aren’t going well at the start.
“I think it’s about time out in the middle, there’s only so much you can bowl in the nets to get that match practice.
“Having some time with the red ball now, I think I’ve closed that gap and worked on those inconsistencies, so as time goes on and the more cricket I play, hopefully the better I get.”
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