Starc spell 'as fast as I’ve seen for a long time'

David Warner rightly took all the plaudits on a memorable Saturday of Test cricket in Adelaide, but the rapid display of fast bowling by Mitchell Starc late on the second evening also caught the eye of his teammate, Matthew Wade.

Having enjoyed an emotional celebration with Warner in the middle of the Adelaide Oval when the opener posted a rare triple century, Wade then stationed himself at mid-off as the Aussie quicks reduced Pakistan to 6-96 by the close of play.

Starc was the standout performer with the ball, pushing the speed gun beyond the 150km/h mark in a display Wade says was the quickest he’s seen for some time.

“When we first got out there, Starcy was bowling proper fast,” Wade told cricket.com.au at stumps on day two after Starc took 4-22 from 13 lightning fast overs.

“The night session was quick, but I thought his first three or four overs straight away were as fast as I’ve seen for a long time.

“He seems to like Adelaide, he gets a nice run-up and lets it fly. It’s pretty cool to be standing at mid-off and watching those guys go about their work. They’re world-class.”

In his sixth day-night Test, Starc has now taken 30 wickets at 20.66 with the pink ball and a total of 56 dismissals at an average of just 18 from 10 day-night games at first-class level.

Starc and his pace-bowling partners Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins tested Australia’s batsmen to their limits in a fiery net session under lights two days out from the start of the match, the trio bowling at full pace with new pink Kookaburra balls that left their batting teammates in fear of both their wickets and their physical well-being.

Wade said the experience, while not particularly pleasant, gave the Australian batters the perfect lead-in to the Test match itself.

“I faced Starcy and Cummo – not good at all,” Wade said of Wednesday night’s training.

“Facing them in the nets, you tell yourself that if you can get through them, you can get through anything in any situation.

“You don’t get much harder than that in the nets, those blokes flying in with brand new pink balls. I did face them, it wasn’t for long thankfully, but it was a challenge.”

Wade posted a quickfire 38 before Australia declared at 3-589 during Saturday’s middle session, adding to the 60 he scored at the Gabba last week.

Australia’s dominant top order has meant their No.5 batsman has been forced to wait for a total of 215 overs for his turn to bat over the first two Tests, a situation Wade concedes is far from ideal, although much better than the alternative.

“It’s not the greatest thing to be doing, to be honest,” he said. “You’re pacing round not quite knowing quite when you’re going to be in … or what the situation is.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s what we get paid to do. We’ve got to get out there and perform in any scenario.

“And I’d prefer to be in that scenario than what we were in the Ashes when we were two for not many all the time.”

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

First Test: Australia won by an innings and five runs.

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)