Pat Cummins sheds light on Mitchell Starc's availability for Sydney Test

Australia skipper Pat Cummins hoped that Mitchell Starc, who was ‘in pain’ after the end of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on December 30 (Monday), would be able to fully recover for the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25, starting January 3rd (Friday) at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). 

“I’m pretty confident he will be fine, we will reassess in a couple of days. He is managing a couple of sore bits, or mainly one sore bit. It looked like it was ribs or something,” Cummins said in the post-match press conference. 

“But he is a warrior, he gets through, his pace doesn’t drop off, he doesn’t even contemplate not being an option to bowl. Other than being in pain, he is fully fit and available,” added the Australian skipper after the team’s 184-run win at Melbourne. 

Earlier on Sunday, Starc said he was ready to bowl 20 overs on the final day of the Test.

Cummins also called the Test his best, rating it on par with Australia’s victory against England at Edgbaston in 2019. After bowling through a wicketless second session, the hosts needed seven wickets at MCG on the fifth day. It looked nearly impossible before Cummins’ side made it possible with wickets from nowhere. 

“When you take all that into account, I think that was the best Test match I've been involved in, in terms of 80-odd thousand on the first three days and (74,000) today, it was huge. It felt like it swung a lot as well, it never felt like we were so far ahead of the game that a win looked certain.

Overall just one of those great wins. I reckon that's right at the top – Edgbaston was pretty special, and I reckon that's pretty much on par,” he said.