Jesus Christ Super Starc

PL reports Cummins is out for series, but the "freak" Starc bowls on

The little Catholic boy fearfully clutching a rosary in the back room of my conscience is nervous about the blasphemy, but in adding another song of praise for Australia’s champion fast bowler, we find ourselves with enough tunes to get all Tim Rice/Andrew Lloyd Webber.

It was confirmed today that Pat Cummins, who has played just one Test, will be sitting out the rest of the series.

Nathan Lyon, unfortunately, is so seriously injured that he will have surgery to repair the hamstring he tore in Adelaide and will not play “for an extended period”. Every time Lyon gets into the back of a van these days, you’ve got to wonder if it’s bound for the glue factory. It would be foolish to write him off; the off-spinner is proud, determined and defiant.

Lyon will not go quietly toward the light.

Bad news for the veteran is good news for Victoria’s Todd Murphy, who has been chosen ahead of Matthew Kuhnemann and Corey Rocchiccioli.

Each had a good case, but Murphy has the most experience at the MCG and took six wickets at the Oval while substituting for Lyon in the 2023 Ashes. Boxing Day, should he be picked, will be his eighth Test but his first in Australia.

The bespectacled bowler is well placed to assume the spinner’s space in the dressing room when Filthy is gone, but he will have to prove his worth with the quality of talent pressing for the same role. Compare and contrast this situation with the one England has found itself in when it comes to slow bowling talent.

Jhye Richardson comes into the squad on the back of some good performances for Australia A. The 29-year-old, who debuted in 2019, has played three Tests. His absence from the side might be explained by the traffic jam of talent that’s slowed his progress in those times; he has spent an inordinate amount of time injured.

Coach Andrew McDonald confirmed that Cummins, whose return from a stress fracture was fast-tracked, is done.

“He won’t play any part in the rest of the series,” McDonald said.

“That was a discussion that we had a long time out around his return. Yeah, we were taking on some risk. We’ve now won the series, and that was the goal.

“To position him for further risk and jeopardise him long term is not something that we want to do.

“Pat’s really comfortable with that. If he had any setback in the build-in as well, we would have shut him down straight away.

Fast bowling is running with scissors. Injuries abound.

Cummins spent much of the first six years after his Test debut in plaster and/or cotton wool. England’s spearheads tell a similar story. Jofra Archer, admirably consistent thus far in the series, had not been able to present consistently fit since making that spectacular statement against Australia back in 2019. Mark Wood has been brilliant but brittle.

And then there’s Starc.