Part of the reason for resting a fit Mitchell Starc was the fact he’s a vital player in all three forms of the game, so what then will the selectors do with Peter Siddle?
Starc and his pace-bowling partner claimed second-innings nine wickets between them to spearhead Australia’s 137-run win in last week’s first Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart.
Chairman of selectors John Inverarity’s five-man panel rewarded Starc with a rest for this week’s Melbourne Test, against the wishes of the 22-year-old paceman.
Starc is expected to return to the side for his home Test in Sydney on January 3 and also for the one-day internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 clashes with Sri Lanka and the West Indies.
Who really cares about the short-form stuff though, one might ask, in comparison to what Cricket Australia (CA) describes as the primacy of Test cricket?
Siddle hasn’t played an ODI or T20 International in the past two years and CA are already making plans for the Ashes tour in the second half of 2013, in which Siddle has been earmarked to play a pivotal role.
Debutant Jackson Bird (2-32) and recalled left-armer Mitchell Johnson (4-63) performed admirably alongside Siddle (2-30) as they rolled Sri Lanka for 156 on Wednesday, so who gets the tap on the shoulder for Starc in Sydney?
Test specialist Siddle might be due for a rest but his next Test in India is more than a month after the Sydney clash, so what is the point of asking him to step down? And Johnson has only played two Tests in 2012, so he can hardly be exhausted.
What we do know is that CA cares very deeply about the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka and the Windies, with a new TV-rights deal under negotiation.
Starc’s furious reaction to being rested could well be repeated next week when Bird, Johnson or Siddle gets told to put his feet up.
Ultimately, it’s all about the Ashes, but it’s a tough sell at the moment for CA to the public, and even to its own players.
Former Test paceman Damien Fleming says players aren’t robots and selectors shouldn’t be flirting with the form of their star players such as Starc who’s young and bowling well.
He says Starc has had a week between the first and second Tests and that should be enough rest time.
This is all set against the backdrop of several Aussie quicks nursing injuries this summer.
Fleming has told ABC radio it’s a contradiction for CA to rest a fit Starc and allow skipper Michael Clarke to play despite straining his hamstring in Hobart and risking a more serious injury in Melbourne.
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