When an Ashes series finally begins and the interminable prognosticating reaches its end, it is customary to discover anew that all of the talk is just talk. So it was for all of us who have offered opinions on the absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood and how losing two champion fast bowlers would drastically weaken the Australia side. Instead, it only gave space to their remaining colleague to dominate the first stanza of the Perth Test on his own. In barely a session, Mitchell Starc turned the Big Three into the BigOne.
Scott Boland was off the boil – it didn’t matter. Brendan Doggett was on debut, chipping in around the edges – it didn’t matter either. Starc has notched a career-best in consecutive innings: six for nine in Kingston in July, followed by seven for 58 here.
