Starc believes Lyon will have desire to return

Mitchell Starc expects Nathan Lyon to have the desire to return to Test cricket after his hamstring tear, as Australia plot the immediate path forward without the veteran spinner.

Australia’s players will resume preparations for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Tuesday, fresh off the high of celebrating retaining the Ashes.

Selectors also have big calls to make, with at least three changes to Australia’s side expected at the MCG as the hosts go after a 5-0 series whitewash.

Pat Cummins has indicated he could sit out the rest of the series to manage his back, opening the door for Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser or Jhye Richardson.

A decision must be made on who makes way for Steve Smith on his return from vertigo symptoms, with Usman Khawaja and Josh Inglis likely battling for one spot.

And Todd Murphy, Corey Rocchiccioli and Matt Kuhnemann are all options to replace Lyon, following his hamstring injury at Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

Having had an injury-free run through most of his Test career, Lyon’s only other real setback since his 2011 Test debut was a torn calf in the 2023 Ashes.

At age 38 he now faces a recovery missing from this hamstring injury, sustained while diving to save a boundary on the final day in Adelaide.

But Lyon has made clear he wants to play into 2027, and is still bowling as well as ever after playing a crucial role in setting up victory in the third Test.

“It’s really unfortunate for him,” Statc said.

“I’m sure it’s a tough one to take. He contributed a lot in this Test match. He’s helped us get to this victory.

“He’s obviously had a layoff with his calf through England, so he’s sort of more on board with the fast bowlers in terms of what rehab takes.

“I think he’s still got that hunger to give more to Australia.

“That’s all for him to think through. Hopefully it’s not a huge layoff and he’s back sooner than later.”

Beyond this Ashes series, Australia’s next red-ball commitment is not until August with two Tests against Bangladesh in Mackay and Darwin.

That will kickstart the busiest 12 months of Test cricket in Australia’s history, with up to 21 matches to be played in that period.

Starc, meanwhile, bowled 33 overs in Adelaide with short turnarounds between there, Melbourne and Sydney.

But the 35-year-old is insistent he will not be rested at the MCG, having long opposed the idea of rotation after being sat out of the Boxing Day Test in 2012.

A combination injuries and selection then denied the left-armer three more MCG Tests in 2013, 2014 and 2015, before he finally played there against Pakistan in 2016.

“I plan every summer to play every game,.” Starc said this week.

“So for me, that’s not changing.”

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum, the man behind the tourists’ gung-ho approach, to the extent his very name became identified  with it, has said he wants to stay on as England’s head coach with a view to refining Bazball in the light of lessons learned in the Ashes debacle.

However, he accepts his future is “up to other people” after losing the Ashes in just 11 days – and the immediate task is to state his case by salvaging something from the tour in the remaining two Tests.

The New Zealander had branded this Ashes as “the biggest series of all our lives” but has seen his hopes of delivering the urn evaporate after humbling defeats in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

McCullum’s predecessor, Chris Silverwood, did not survive a 4-0 thrashing four years ago and questions are already being asked about who should carry the can for the latest defeat Down Under.

McCullum is keen to pick up the pieces from a desperate trip and be part of the rebuild but understands that his fate lies in the hands of others. Managing director of cricket Rob Key sits above him in the chain of command, but is facing tough questions over his own position, with chief executive Richard Gould ultimately responsible for the next steps.

Key will address the media in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Asked if he would still be in charge at the start of the English summer, he said: “I don’t know. It’s not really up to me, is it?

“I’ll just keep trying to do the job, try to learn the lessons that we haven’t quite got right here and try to make some adjustments. Those questions are for someone else, not for me.

“Sometimes you don’t win, and then those decisions are up to other people. It’s a pretty good gig, it’s good fun. You travel the world with the lads and try to play some exciting cricket and try to achieve some things.

“I don’t do anything to protect the job, for me it’s a matter of trying to just get the very best out of the people and try to achieve what you can with them. I’m enjoying the time that I’ve got with these guys and I think we’ve made some progress from when I took over to where we are.

“We’re not the finished article, but I think we’ve definitely improved as a cricket team. We’ve had an identity about us.

“You’re always looking at what you’ve got right and what you’ve got wrong, and you’re not too ignorant to admit that you get some things wrong. (It’s OK) as long as you don’t keep making the same mistakes.”

There are two more games left, starting in Melbourne on Boxing Day before moving on to Sydney for the New Year Test. Lose both and it may become impossible for any of the key decision-makers to hold off the tide.

That means they are anything but dead rubbers for a management team and a squad looking to save their international careers.

“Now’s the time for us, in the last two Tests, to really show our identity,” McCullum said.

“What I’m trying to achieve with this team, and what the skipper’s trying to achieve, is to try and finish this tour with some pride salvaged from what’s been pretty disappointing so far.

“I’ll always have the back of my players, and always support them, and I’ll always make sure that I’m protective of them as well in a public forum. That doesn’t mean you don’t challenge privately, but in a public forum, you’re always protective.

“I wouldn’t imagine anything would change in the coming days as we look to try and salvage something from this. I have conviction in the style of cricket that I try to get the teams to play, with the players that you’ve got who are suited to it.”