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Cape Town - Fast bowler Mitchell Starc looks set to be left out of Australia's starting line-up for the first Ashes Test against England that starts in Birmingham on Thursday.
Starc, along with Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, have been regulars in Australia's Test side for the last four years but captain Tim Paine revealed on Wednesday that the Aussies will rotate their pacemen to try and prolong their careers.
Paine said: "The last two or three years, we've been way too reliant on Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood - they've played a lot of Tests and subsequently picked up lots of niggly injuries along the way.
"It's a positive for all those guys. Another one is Peter Siddle, he can get another 12 months of Test cricket if we keep picking guys for the conditions. That's the way we've sold it to them.
"It's a great thing for the team but it's also a great thing for them individually."
James Pattinson, who has been in excellent form for Nottinghamshire in the English County Championship this season, seems to be the preferred candidate to replace Starc with Paine revealing that the duo will not play together as they are similar.
Paine added: "At the moment we probably are looking at them in a similar role and we want to make sure we get that combination right and the bowlers we pick are complementing each other.
"If conditions are right for both of those two, we think to play together they certainly will.
"It's not something we've said 'we're only playing him [or] we're only playing him'. We're just making sure we get the right combination and have all bases covered."
