Adelaide: If anyone thought the absence of one Mitch would do little to dent Australia's fast-bowlers prowess the absence of a second should have shocked them into reconsidering that stance.
In the space of two Test the main issues facing Australia in terms of their fast-bowling, when to rest Josh Hazlewood and how long James Pattinson should be given to settle in the Sheffield Shield, have been exposed as luxuries. Both now seem assured of selection for the next Test in Hobart as a repercussion of Mitch Starc's extended absence from the team due to a stress-fracture in his right foot.
Even though it was diagnosed as an early stage injury, that part of the body that bears the most impact when a paceman delivers the ball.
Had Mitch Johnson not retired at the end of the previous Test there is no doubt he would have been asked to lead Australia's attack against the West Indies in Hobart, irrespective of his form, because of the lack of alternatives.
Pat Cummins is still well away from being able to return from his latest back injury, while West Australian Jason Behrendorff is already back on the sidelines in the aftermath of a back injury that excluded him from Ashes contention in the winter. Behrendroff's Warriors teammate Nathan Coulter-Nile is one of the quickest bowlers in the country, but his intended comeback from injury this week was thwarted by a suspension due to dissent in a Futures League match.
When Pattinson replaces Starc in the XI for the looming Test at Blundstone Arena, a scenario only threatened by the Victorian succumbing to injury before then, selectors will have to find another paceman to add to the squad.
The most obvious candidate is Jackson Bird, who has not been seen at international level since breaking down during the 2013 Ashes. But if selectors are guided by their mantra of favouring pace, of those who can regularly exceeded 140km/h, it could lead to a choice between New South Welshmen Doug Bollinger and Sean Abbott.
Bollinger would be a longshot, partly because of his age - he is 34 - but also because he cannot retain pace throughout the day like his younger peers.
Abbott is regarded as an all-rounder, although he would be better classified as a bowler who can contribute with the bat in the lower order. He is not tall but boasts good pace, and also an ability to harness reverse swing.
Selectors could also be concerned that selecting Hazlewood, Siddle and Bird in the same attack, with only Pattinson capable of regularly hurrying batsmen, would be too docile, an outcome that would help 23-year-old Abbott.
Tasmania's Andrew Fekete bowls at a comparable pace to Abbott, although his omission from the Tigers' Sheffield Shield team and return only because of a toe injury to James Faulkner will not have encouraged selectors to again choose him, as they did for the aborted tour of Bangladesh.
When Australia's cricket chiefs decide how to respond to Starc's injury there are three series that will loom largest in their thinking: the Tests away to New Zealand in February, the World Twenty20 in India in March and the home Tests against South Africa to start next summer.
Even though there will be a Test series in Sri Lanka next year, probably in July, the other three series arguably will rank higher in their pecking order. In the case of the World Twenty20, that is because it is a tournament they have yet to win.
The ideal scenario for Australia would be if Starc could be nursed back to health in time to return to training some time in January, and be fit for the Sheffield Shield match in New Zealand that will serve as the unofficial tour match preceding the two-Test series.
If he could play that series and also the World Twenty20 and be persuaded to miss the Indian Premier League in April and May, for which he holds a lucrative contract with Bangalore, then it would create an opportunity for the ankle operation to remove bone spurs that has been repeatedly postponed.
If there is doubt that Starc, even if he was rested from the rest of the home Australian summer, be ready for the New Zealand Tests or even the World Twenty20 then CA may decide to bring forward the surgery on his ankle.
Above all, the priority has to be for Starc to be at peak fitness for when Australia host the Proteas in the Tests that will start the 2016-17 summer.
Irrespective of whether they try to get Starc back for New Zealand and the World Twenty20, however long he is absent for the challenge of replacing him will be massive - more than it would have been had Mitch Johnson still been available.
