Starc attack takes the buzz out of 'Bazball'

The left-arm pacer finds his rhythm as Australia bowl hosts out for 283 on Day 1 of the fifth Ashes Test

- Ashish Magotra

On his day, Mitchell Starc can be very good but no one quite knows when that 'day' comes along. The left-armer can be wayward, he can be fast, he can look as if his heart is not in it and there is always a danger of him breaking down. But take the imponderables out of the equation, and he can also be an irrestible force. And no one is in a better position to support that assertion than England skipper Ben Stokes.

Stokes had been in for 15 balls, taking his time to get his eye in with England at a precarious 193/4, when he was at the receiving end of a jaffer. A couple of deliveries were bowled on either side of the wicket and then Starc got it right. It was full enough to draw the batter into the shot and then the late movement beat him all ends up. The death rattle told him that his stay at the wicket had come to an end and the distant stare told everyone watching that the ball had been just too good.