Perth, Nov 21 (IANS) Pacer Mitchell Starc said he had always backed his ability to take wickets, even as Australia stared at a precarious position after a chaotic opening day of the first Ashes Test in Perth. The left-arm quick produced a sensational spell of 7 for 58 to bowl England out for 172, but the visitors hit back hard to leave Australia tottering at 123 for 9 by stumps.

With 19 wickets falling — the most ever on day one of an Ashes series — Starc’s spell stood out as the defining performance of the day, and he insisted he was simply doing the job that has always been expected of him.

“I mean, it’s always the plan, isn’t it? But it doesn’t always happen that way,” Starc said. “I’ve just been pretty fortunate to have done it a few times. But it’s always been my role to be aggressive, look for wickets. I’ve never been one to worry about economy rates. My role is to go looking for wickets, especially with the new ball, and hopefully make inroads into the opposition.”

Starc’s performance came at a time when Australia are missing two of their biggest bowling assets — captain Pat Cummins (back) and Josh Hazlewood (hamstring). But the 101-Test veteran said the responsibility had not weighed on him.

“Actually, strangely, I’ve been quite calm all week, even when we got to the ground,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we haven’t got Josh and Pat with us, but we still have a fair bit of experience in the bowling attack.”

With Australia still trailing by 49 runs and only one wicket in hand, the hosts face a steep challenge on day two. Starc acknowledged that he might need to produce more magic to keep Australia alive in the contest, but he refused to blame the pitch for the dramatic collapse on both sides.

“Two pretty good bowling attacks. Credit to both,” he said. “I mean, I thought we bowled pretty well, and I thought they bowled pretty nicely. So I think it’s just one of those days where you get two attacks that are on the money for the whole day, and we sit here with 19 wickets down.”

Starc added that the Test — and the Ashes — was far from decided.

“But it’s two innings of cricket and a long time left in this series,” he said.

–IANS

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