'Handbrake off' for Starc despite missing pace partners

Mitchell Starc has vowed to push himself to his physical limits in the Ashes series opener despite a pace-bowling injury outbreak that has left him as the only 'Big Three' quick left standing.

Australia will this week name an XI without either Pat Cummins (back stress) and Josh Hazlewood (hamstring strain) in it for just the third time on home soil this decade. It leaves Starc to lead a seam attack likely featuring Scott Boland, debutant Brendan Doggett, as well as allrounder Cameron Green, for the Perth contest.

Continuing a restrained build-up to the series from both teams, the softly-spoken left-armer defused a succession of potential hot-button topics two days out from the highly-anticipated first Test.

Questions about the impact of England's uber-attacking batting in the 2023 Ashes on the forthcoming rematch ("I certainly wasn't thinking about playing in Australia while playing in England), his first-ball wicket of the 2021-22 series ("it's long gone now") and the visitors' solitary warm-up fixture ("the international landscape's changed") were all blocked back to the bowler.

But Starc, fresh off terrorising Australia's top-order on the Burswood venue's challenging practice wickets during their main training session on Wednesday, bristled when it was put to him that the absence of Cummins and Hazlewood might require him to be wrapped in cotton wool.

"I don't listen anyway," he told reporters, insisting he wants to not only play all five Tests of the series, but that he will also bowl at full intensity for as many overs as Cummins' captaincy replacement Steve Smith requires of him.

"I'm not someone who's going to bowl within myself or be cautious with anything. It is what it is. You can't prepare for Test three, four and five without playing the first one. We're all focused on this week.

"It'll be handbrake off and away we go."

Starc turns 36 in two months but has only gotten more physically robust during his twilight years. His minor irritation at having to warm up twice during training on Wednesday morning after a nearby lightning strike delayed Australia's session was a rare tell that his body creaks a little more than it used to.

He has in fact played 43 of Australia's 47 Tests over the past six years.

That only six of them have come without at least one of Cummins (whose training efforts this week have seen firm for a second-Test return) or Hazlewood being in the team as well shows that that pair have been close to matching Starc on the durability front in recent years.

Australia have used just four frontline fast bowlers (Starc, Cummins, Hazlewood and Boland) over their past 31 Tests dating back to mid-December 2022.

By way of contrast, England have used 14 different specialist pacemen over the same period, during which time they have played one more Test.

"Sadly injuries in fast bowling happen," Starc said. "It just so happens we're two men down heading into the first Test.

"It's good to see the depth in the squad. We know what Scotty can do, 'Doggy' (Doggett) is coming off a hot streak and 'Ness' (reserve quick Michael Neser) has been around for a while now.

"I think we're all pretty clear on what our roles are. Obviously, I've got a little bit more experience there (but) Scotty's been around for a fair while now, so it's not like I'm telling him what to do.

"We've got Patty in the sheds with us anyway. So I take on a little bit of an experienced role, if you like. But we've all been around the traps for a while."

Starc was also forthright when asked about the choice of Perth as the venue for the opening Test of the home summer for a fourth consecutive occasion. Australia's newest cricket stadium has done so ever since Western Australia's tough Covid border restrictions saw their 2021-22 Ashes Test played in Hobart instead.

"We'll find out (if it's an advantage) in a week, won't we?" said Starc. "They don't listen to players – we would have liked to start in Brisbane too."

It was not an advantage for the Aussies 12 months ago when India ambushed them on a drop-in surface that flattened out after 17 wickets fell on the game's opening day.

That has prompted the stadium's head curator, Isaac McDonald, to start preparing this year's surface a day earlier in the hope batting will be less of a challenge to begin the Test.

That shift, combined with the lack of any recent Sheffield Shield cricket being played at the ground, means the exact nature of the surface remains something of a mystery for both teams. None of the England squad have played a Test at Perth Stadium.

The drop-in surface is statistically Nathan Lyon's most successful venue in Australia. His 29 wickets in five Tests here have come at 21, while he has consistently bowled a high volume of overs at the ground; he sent down 44 in last summer's Test against India, 32 against Pakistan in 2023 and 64.5 against West Indies in 2022 amid the spinner's generally diminishing role in home Test matches.

And despite both Australian and English batters finding their own pace bowlers a handful on the (non drop-in) training pitches this week, Starc expects that predictions of "green Mamba" pitch will be well off the mark.

"It's all good and well to look at the wicket, but until both teams have played on it, we're not really sure what it's actually going to do," he said.

"The (training) wickets have had a little bit in them out the back, there's been some sideways and some up and down. We obviously know that everyone here likes to talk about the pace and bounce of Perth (but) we've seen wickets here that have been really flat and pretty docile.

"So everyone can say what they want about the wicket, but until you've played on it, we won't know what to expect."

2025-26 NRMA Insurance Men's Ashes

First Test: November 21-25, Perth Stadium, 1:20pm AEDT

Second Test: December 4-8, The Gabba, Brisbane (D/N), 3pm AEDT

Third Test: December 17-21: Adelaide Oval, 10:30am AEDT

Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10:30am AEDT

Fifth Test: January 4-8: SCG, Sydney, 10:30am AEDT

Australia squad (first Test only): Steve Smith (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Brendan Doggett, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Harry Brook (vc), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Jacob Bethell, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Josh Tongue, Mark Wood