Michael Neser described Mitchell Starc as “the greatest lefty of all time” after the 35-year-old top-scored for Australia and then helped bowl his side to the verge of victory in the second Ashes Test.
At stumps England were 134 for six in their second innings, 43 behind Australia’s first-innings total of 511. None of their partnerships lasting as long, or scoring as much, as Starc’s with his fellow bowler Scott Boland. They scored 75 off 164 balls, with Starc ending on 77.
“He’s a special player. He doesn’t like to admit it, but he is the GOAT, the greatest lefty of all time,” said Neser, who, like Starc and Boland, took two wickets, both of his caught and bowled. “He does it with the ball, the bat, and to be next to him, witnessing what he does, is just amazing. I don’t know how long he batted for, but it was serious heat out there and to back it up with the ball like he did, it’s very special.”
Neser, who was raised in Queensland after moving to Australia at the age of 10 and knows conditions here intimately, had some sympathy for England’s bowlers. They toiled through the hottest part of the day, leaving Australia to have their turn in the cool of the evening. “Being a Gabba local, I know how hard it is bowling under the heat,” he said. “It just seems to radiate through the Gabba. To be bowling as late as we did, it definitely keeps you fresher and it only benefits us leading in to tomorrow.”
Marcus Trescothick, England’s assistant coach, admitted it had been “a tough day” that left the team “not in a great position”, but defended their bowling to Australia’s lower order and their batting, despite a wearily familiar collapse. On England’s approach to the partnership between Starc and Boland, he said: “We were trying to bowl in a way that we were going to hopefully force an error. That didn’t necessarily happen in the fashion we wanted it to do.”
Trescothick insisted it would be wrong to suggest England’s batters have been unnecessarily reckless. “I think we are trying to play the way we want to play. We want to try to utilise that in the best possible fashion,” he said. “It doesn’t always go right, of course.
“This game here, we have been put under pressure for the second innings. I don’t think you should be looking too much necessarily at what the guys are trying to do. You’ve got to have a style of play that you stick to.
“We’ve been put under pressure in various places in the last two games and that’s been challenging. We’re always trying to respect the situation, respect the game and learn and be better next time we get the chance.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s captain, Pat Cummins, will be ready to return from injury for the third Ashes Test in Adelaide, the fast bowler said on Saturday. Cummins missed the series-opener in Perth and the day-night match in Brisbane while recovering from a back injury.
“I’ll have one more bowl tomorrow [in the nets] and then we’ll go to Adelaide and have a bowl there. So barring any hiccups, I’ll be good to go,” he told Fox Sports. “The body feels great.”
