Mitchell Starc says Cameron Green’s absence will “change the dynamic” of Australia’s men’s Test XI, suggesting pace reserves may be needed to get through the summer.

Green’s season-ending back surgery has left Australia’s selectors with several questions ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, beyond who opens the batting with Usman Khawaja.

Green’s absence has the potential to have a knock-on effect on Australia’s aging attack, with an increased workload likely in the five Tests against India.

Captain Pat Cummins had said before the start of the summer that Australia were likely to rely heavily on Green and fellow all-rounder Mitch Marsh, particularly if India batted for long periods.

Starc, Cummins and Josh Hazlewood will almost certainly start the summer as the preferred three quicks, but Scott Boland, Michael Neser and Sean Abbott all now loom on the fringes.

“It’s always going to change the dynamic when you take out a true all-around player like Cameron Green,” Starc said.

“When you have that real all-rounder who has been in a group for a while… you get into a sort of routine of having that extra bowling option.

“I don’t know what the dynamics of this line-up will be, there’s a lot of talk about that opening slot and Mitch (Marsh)’s bowling as well.

“It’s not completely unrelated. We’ve had series in the past where we didn’t have an all-around player at all.

“We had to take on some of that workload, and Gaz (Nathan Lyon) probably had to play a little bit more as well.”

Starc will begin his red-ball summer for NSW against Victoria in the Sheffield Shield on Sunday, with Steve Smith and Lyon also playing for the Blues.

Hazlewood will next play the Blues’ next match against Queensland, with Starc rested.

The Tests against India will be played over a seven-week period, with the longest gap being a 10-day break between the series opener in Perth and the second match in Adelaide.

Starc said Australia’s bowlers had always adopted a wide-team approach, with several factors coming into play when managing the workload of the first-choice group.

“That’s been the mindset for several years now, with an overseas tour or a home series and the mentality that a summer or a series can be exhausting,” Starc said.

“We talked about it: if you have four or five tests that last four days, the extra day between matches (can be important).

“There is obviously a big gap between the first and second Test and the third and fourth Test. That may also play a role.

“We don’t know what wickets we will get, we don’t know how successful we will be or not.”

PAA