AUS vs ENG: Mitchell Starc Rested For 3rd ODI vs England, Riley Meredith Included In The Squad – Reports

Updated - 21 Nov 2022, 03:47 PM

Mitchell Starc. Image: Cricket Australia

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Star Australia National Cricket Team left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc has been rested for the third and final ODI against England National Cricket Team and Tasmania speedster Riley Meredith has been called into the squad, according to a report in ESPNcricinfo.

Australia have a 2-0 lead in the ODI series and the final ODI will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, November 22. Notably, Starc has stayed back in Sydney to rest ahead of the two-match Test series against West Indies, which will commence next week.

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Ashton Agar will also miss the dead rubber ODI against England as he has left the squad to head to Canberra ahead of the four-day pink-ball Prime Minister’s XI match against West Indies commencing on Wednesday.

Captain Pat Cummins, who was rested for the second ODI, is likely to return to the side for the final ODI. Also, Sean Abbott will most likely be a part of the Australia XI in the game against England.

Tests always first…far above white-ball cricket – Mitchell Starc

Speaking after Australia’s 72-run win over England in the second ODI where Mitchell Starc bagged 4 wickets, the left-arm pacer said that Test cricket will always remain “far above” the other formats for him. He said:

“Tests always first…far above white-ball [cricket]. I’ll decide on the rest as I go, where my body is at and how I feel about it. I would love to, selection and form pending, continue playing Test cricket as long as I can.”

Mitchell Starc also said that it’s “certainly impossible” to play all matches across formats. He added that he can’t really play all three formats of the game for a long period of time.

“It’s certainly impossible at the moment to play every game as a three-format player. We’ve seen that over the last few years, sometimes there are two Australian teams playing at the same time in different continents in different formats. They see a break and put a series on. I think having those periods of time to rest may help me keep bowling at decent speeds for a period of time. I don’t think playing three formats is something I can [continue] for a long period of time moving forward now.”