Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Australia left-arm pace bowler Mitchell Starc has confirmed that he will delay having his ankle surgically repaired in order to represent his side in the two-match Test series against New Zealand in February and in the World Twenty20 in March.

Starc was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right foot following the first day of the recently concluded third Test against New Zealand in Adelaide, in which the Baggy Greens were crowned winners of the first-ever day-night Test match after they triumphed over the Blackcaps by three wickets.

“The foot won’t rule me out for [the] rest of summer, so no point doubling up and missing extra time with surgery,” Starc said. “Once I get home I will talk to the medical staff and map it out and see what it looks like. I will let the bone heal for now.

“I will be in the boot for three or four weeks and reassess then. There is no point putting a time stamp on it until the bone heals.”

Starc admitted that it was frustrating the injury had occurred at this pivotal point in time, but added that he is not willing to sit back and be sidelined for a lengthy period of time.

“It has been going okay so it is frustrating that this has come up,” Starc said. “I felt it crack that last ball. You never know when these things will pull up. The ankle has probably been in an okay place – it hasn’t stopped me bowling or anything like that – and now the foot has popped up. It’s frustrating, but there’s not much I can do about it now.

“Depending on how much damage is in there and how much bone is broken off, that sort of thing, and whether there’s more spurs or not, it’s [surgery] something I’ll look at down the track. It’s not something that I’m looking at doing right now.”