Starc has 2 wickets ,Bowling really well
Flat pitch doesn't stop you bowling 140+ and swinging it
Me thinks perhaps Boland should have played
I think there were a few reasons Starc was picked.
Overseas Boland has been very average. 7/370 in 4 tests overseas (3 England, 1 India), so averaging around 52.85 ish. Starc comparatively has taken 143/4242 which is just under 30 in 40 tests (14 England, 6 Sri Lanka and India, 3 Pak, SA, WI and UAE and 2 in NZ).
Additionally, Starc has one of the best records in the world taking wickets in his first 2 overs (don’t know specific stats but he’s reknowned for it). So, in Sri Lanka given he’s most likely gonna open for a couple balls then maybe come in again at the 2nd new ball it makes sense.
His batting is also significantly better than Bolands which doesn’t mean that much considering he’ll probably only contribute 20 more runs but it’s good assurance.
The last one which only occurred to me yesterday was the fact he is such a big man bowling such pace means he puts a lot of force into the ground bowling and during his follow through. Therefore making some excellent footmarks for the spinners to aim at which I saw Lyon do yesterday and he was getting significant turn off them.
However, in non-pink ball Australian test matches I would much rather have Boland in the team than Starc or any pace bowler for that matter. Boland has an average in Aus of 12.63 (Cummins 19.92, Hazelwood 22.7, Starc 26).