The next selection battle: to preserve or to go for the jugular?

You may recall me a few weeks ago urging the Australian selectors to keep their powder dry after the first Test win in Brisbane.

Don’t make changes for the sake of change heading to Adelaide, just keep the XI intact and keep pushing home the advantage in the quest for the urn.

With the Ashes now secured and hopefully rescued from that awkwardly staged shared kiss between Steve Smith and Darren Lehmann, the selectors now face a bigger challenge over the remaining Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

Mitchell Starc bowled with a suspected bruised heel to close out the third Test in Perth and will be monitored closely between now and Boxing Day. The move to keep Jackson Bird with the Test squad and not release him to the Sydney Sixers on Tuesday night is not insignificant.

Nor are the words Smith uttered in the post-match press conference on Monday afternoon, where, after confirming that Starc had already indicated amid the changeroom festivities that he’d be right for the fourth Test, the skipper simply added, “But it might not be up to him”.

This is the biggest conundrum for the selectors now. Undoubtedly they’ll be driven by the medical advice, and the team medicos will similarly be allowing Starc to do whatever he needs to do to be fit.

Though there’s contradictory photographic evidence, reports that he didn’t even have a beer during the celebrations are encouraging. Maybe he was contractually obligated to hold the XXXX Gold stubby for the photo.

Given that Starc has missed Boxing Day Tests in the past, it’s understandable that he’d be wanting to play next Tuesday.

He left Perth on crutches – precautionary, admittedly, and he was still walking with the crutches – and scans on arrival in Sydney cleared him of any major damage. ‘Bruised heel’ was indeed the official diagnosis reported by Cricket Australia.

But maybe there is a bigger picture in play. Is a 95 per cent fit Starc more important in what is now a dead rubber than a fully fit Starc will be in South Africa in March and early April? We only have to go back to the series in India to recall his last injury-forced early series exit after all.

Similarly, do they risk a weakened bowling attack and a flattering series result for England by not playing Starc? Jackson Bird is a fine bowler and will find movement with the ball if the conditions suit, but he’s not doing it north of 145 clicks, is he?

To be fair, it’s not just Starc the selectors will be keeping a close eye on. Pat Cummins is not under any cloud for the last two Tests, but the for reasons mentioned above, that doesn’t predicate that he should be bowled into the ground given his long and hardly storied injury history.

The smart move might be to sit Starc out of Melbourne and bring him back for Sydney in place of Cummins. A second spinner might be considered for Sydney of course, with both quicks putting the feet up. Bird playing two Tests ahead of the four-Test South Africa tour wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

The other side of the argument is the state of the MCG pitch, where wickets have been arguably harder to come by than in Perth during the third Test. In the three Sheffield Shield games played there this summer 36, 27, and 23 wickets have fallen.

Admittedly the Australian Test attack does have a little more firepower than your average state attack and may well find extra assistance. Equally the curators will undoubtedly be giving the Test pitch a whole lot more attention than for a standard four-day game.

But the likelihood of long bowling innings should probably be considered. If the selectors were worried about bowling workloads enough to select a fourth seamer in Perth, then they’ll be conscious of it for Melbourne as well.

Generally speaking I don’t really think resting players from Tests is the best idea, but if it’s a way of mitigating risk and getting game time into fringe players, then perhaps the idea does stand up.

It will all come down to a matter of priorities now, though, with the Ashes secure and nothing further to be gained, notwithstanding the desire to achieve another 5-0 whitewash.

But maybe that’s also incentive enough to dangle in front of Bird. Show us that we don’t lose anything in attack and finish England off properly.

I don’t know. I’d still be surprised if Starc was rested from a Test he’d have played in if it was still live, but it’s fair to say for the next few days he’s now attached to the most interesting heel in Australia.