Andrew McDonald, the head coach of Australia, emphasized that the choice was made based on the circumstances and the team’s evaluation at the time. Josh Hazlewood finished the first Test with a score of 3/109.
The fastest bowler on the team, Mitchell Starc, was benched by Australia head coach Andrew McDonald for the opening Ashes Test due, according to McDonald, primarily to the flat and dry conditions at Edgbaston.
On a track that provided little assistance to the seamers, McDonald acknowledged that Starc’s ability to swing the old ball might have been useful. In the opening Ashes game, Australia defeated England by two wickets.
The decision was made based on the circumstances and the team’s evaluation at the time, the head coach of Australia emphasized.
He claimed that Josh Hazlewood, who came back with figures of 3/109, was chosen over Starc primarily due to line and length considerations rather than left-arm swing.
“And I’ve said that from the beginning, it’s condition-based,” McDonald said. There’s no question that Mitch might have had a part to play in it, in our opinion, now that we can look back on it.
However, “We didn’t feel as though we may have had swinging conditions (at Edgbaston) due to line and length potentially over a left-arm swing. Any criticism is valid because the decision was largely based on intuition. With the knowledge we had going into the game, we believed we had chosen wisely. “
McDonald acknowledged that the choice might be criticized, but the team was confident that it was the best one to make given the information at hand. Starc, he continued, was aware of the team’s choice and realized he would play a crucial part in the Ashes series’ remaining games.
All of the fast bowlers would be under a lot of pressure to perform throughout the series, according to McDonald, and depending on the circumstances, Starc might play in the following match. The second Test will take place at Lord’s from June 28 to July 2.
McDonald said, “We took Starcy on that journey; he understands that and he understands the fact there are four more Test matches and he has a pivotal part to play within that.”
To get through the five (Ashes) Test matches and the World Test Championship, a lot will be expected of all of our fast bowlers. We believed Josh was the best player on this surface because he was healthy and available, but Mitch could overtake him in the following game, who knows?
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