“We’ll play on what we’re given,”: Australia’s Mitchell Starc on ‘Edgbaston pitch’

London [UK], June 27 (ANI): Australian pacer Mitchell Starc responded to English player Jimmy Anderson’s comments over “Edgbaston pitch” in the first Ashes test match.

“Probably not a surprise after some of the comments from last week and the nature of that (Edgbaston) wicket. We’ll play on what we’re given in a couple of days’ time,” Starc said.
Australia are leading the Ashes series 1-0 after defeating England by two wickets at Edgbaston.

Starc is still waiting for the recall from the Australian side as he was not part of the Playing XI in the previous test match.

When asked about his inclusion in the team, he said, “I’m used to it now coming to England,”.

“It’s a squad mentality, much the same as last time. We’ve got a great set of bowlers not just in this squad but a couple of other guys playing county cricket.

It’s a very, very short Ashes crammed into the space of seven weeks. We knew it was going to be hard work for anyone to play all the games. We’ve all taken that approach and will for the rest of the Test matches,” Starc added.

Starc featured last in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India earlier this month where he conceded five runs per over and picked four wickets including Virat Kohli’s in the first innings.

“I came into that game feeling pretty good, but then my rhythm wasn’t quite there. It’s been a good couple of weeks of work to get back into that rhythm,” he said.

“We were all better for the run after that Test final at The Oval and I certainly feel less clunky than I did throughout the game. Hopefully, that results in some good stuff if and when I play. It’s all in good order, it’s just about getting some time in the middle when the time comes,” he added.

Australia will play their second test match of the Ashes series against England starting on Wednesday.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

England squad: Ben Stokes (c), Rehan Ahmed, James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.