Starc injury brings Bird's year into focus

Paceman Jackson Bird has watched a lot of Test cricket in 2017.

Ten Tests worth of it, in fact, in three countries, on two continents and with only a handful of suggestions during that time that watching Test cricket will turn into playing it.

But after 12 months of waiting patiently, 12 months as the 'next in line', the wait is seemingly almost over.

The sizeable compression bandage on Mitchell Starc's right leg as he watched Australia's training session at the MCG on Saturday gave a strong indication that the left-armer will be forced, not for the first time in his career, to skip a Boxing Day Test.

Rated a "50-50" chance by teammate Pat Cummins, there's a handful of factors that point to that being a generous assessment.

The fact the left-armer has been on crutches for part of the past week in order to ease the stress on his bruised left heel.

The fact the Ashes are already won, making this Boxing Day Test, despite the ceremony that always comes with one of Australia's greatest annual sporting traditions, a dead rubber.

The fact that a crucial tour of South Africa is looming and selector Mark Waugh this week said his panel will "err on the side of caution" with one of their most important players.

The fact that Cummins, having suffered a similar problem himself six years ago, warned on Saturday that not allowing this kind of injury to heal will only exacerbate it.

All of that brings Bird into the frame for what would be his third Boxing Day Test and the ninth match in a career that has spanned half a decade.

And after the year he's had, playing on as grand a stage as a Boxing Day Ashes Test is the least he deserves.

Dropped for a second spinner against Pakistan at the SCG last January, Bird was a non-playing member on the tours of India and Bangladesh during the year and then again for the first three Tests of this Magellan Ashes Series.

Six Tests on the subcontinent and three at home when Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have been fit - the right-armer was always destined to be on the outer this year.

But a near miss in Bangladesh, when Australia opted for spinner Steve O'Keefe instead of Bird after Hazlewood had been ruled out due to injury, was a particularly tough decision to handle. 

"We ended up winning the Test match so it turned out to be the right selection, but being so close and missing out at the last minute is frustrating," Bird says of the second game in Chittagong, where Cummins was the sole paceman in the side.

"But that's the way it goes sometimes. You've just got to cop it on the chin and not complain about it too much."

At 31 and as an experienced campaigner on the domestic scene, Bird is a realist.

And the fact Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins, three of the best quicks in the world when fit, are the men that have kept him on the sidelines for part of this year has somewhat eased his frustration.

"It's a little bit frustrating to not get an opportunity, but I'm completely realistic about where I sit behind the fast bowlers that are ahead of me," he said.

"They're all world-class fast bowlers and I'm under no illusions of where I sit behind those guys.

"I've just got to prepare as if I'm going to play and be ready if any of those guys don't come up.

"That's the spot I'm in at the moment ... but I'm in a better spot than some blokes are, so I can't complain too much about it."

A benefit of Bird's absence from the Ashes so far this summer has been the clever scheduling of the JLT Sheffield Shield season, which allowed him to return to domestic cricket once he was deemed surplus to requirements for the Brisbane and Adelaide Tests.

And his performances for Tasmania this season underline why he's continually been picked by Australia's selectors this year, if only in squads and not quite the final playing XI.

Twenty-five wickets at 16 in four matches, including bags of eight and seven during the respective Tests, means he'll come back into the side in top form if he gets the chance.

"I felt like the ball came out really nicely in those couple of weeks that I was away," he said.

"I haven't played a Test match since this game last year, so I've been ready to go for about 12 months now."

Having thrice missed a Boxing Day match after playing the previous Test, Starc will be doing everything he can to ensure it's not fourth time unlucky.

But if not, Bird will make sure it's been worth the wait.

2017-18 International Fixtures

Magellan Ashes Series

Australia Test squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Jackson Bird.

England Test squad: Joe Root (c), James Anderson (vc), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Mason Crane, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Ben Stokes, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Chris Woakes.

First Test Australia won by 10 wickets. Scorecard

Second Test Australia won by 120 runs (Day-Night). Scorecard

Third Test Australia won by an innings and 41 runs. Scorecard

Fourth Test MCG, December 26-30. Tickets

Fifth Test SCG, January 4-8 (Pink Test). Tickets

Gillette ODI Series v England

First ODI MCG, January 14. Tickets

Second ODI Gabba, January 19. Tickets

Third ODI SCG, January 21. Tickets

Fourth ODI Adelaide Oval, January 26. Tickets

Fifth ODI Perth Stadium, January 28. Tickets

Prime Minister's XI

PM's XI v England Manuka Oval, February 2. Tickets

Gillette T20 trans-Tasman Tri-Series

First T20I Australia v NZ, SCG, February 3. Tickets

Second T20I – Australia v England, Blundstone Arena, February 7. Tickets

Third T20I – Australia v England, MCG, February 10. Tickets

Fourth T20I – NZ v England, Wellington, February 14

Fifth T20I – NZ v Australia, Eden Park, February 16

Sixth T20I – NZ v England, Seddon Park, February 18

Final – TBC, Eden Park, February 21