J
ofra Archer may well
have bowled the ball that
wins the Ashes for
England.
Hitting Steve Smith on
the head will probably
put him out of the Leeds Test
match.
He was not well enough to bat in
the second innings at Lord’s and
with only three days between now
and the start of the next Test, it
does not give him enough time to
get over concussion.
I don’t think any right-minded,
or right-thinking persons would
want him to play and then collapse
at Headingley.
That would be a real tragedy. His
health is more important than
helping Australia win a Test match
because cricket is only a game.
Australia’s batting without the
talismanic Smith looks so fragileThis is the delivery
that could win
Ashes for England
Archer’s
blow to
Smith is
likely to
deprive
Australia of
their best
batsman
and they
are now
there for
the taking
been able to finish them off
because Smith has been in the way,
not just here, but on the last Ashes
tour as well.
The other one quality batsman,
David Warner, has had four
failures. The rest of their batting
looks ordinary to poor and, as a
bowler with the new ball, you
fancy having a go at them at any
time.
With those two big fish in that
situation, Australia are ready for
the taking. We worry about our
batting but without those two
scoring runs, Australia are even
worse.
The reason why Archer hits
people is because he ambles up
and he has a very fast, deceptive
arm action.
When bowlers amble up to the
crease like that you get sucked in
because it is difficult for your brain
to think it is going to come at you
that fast.
Normally you see a guy racing in
to bowl fast and you are ready for
it. It is hard when you see a guy
ambling in to bowl what looks like
military medium and suddenly it is
like lightning at you. Archer will
hit a lot more people.
It is not just Australia who have
problems with the bat. England’s
batting order does not look right.
Rory Burns is doing a good job
working his socks off to give theinnings a good start. When the
ball is straight or on his legs he
looks really good.
He is tight in defence and
works the ball off his hips and
pads to the leg side very well.
His only problem for me is he
sometimes gets drawn into trying
to score from balls a bit wide of
off stump that he should leave.
If he can just be a bit more
careful driving outside the off
stump then I think he will do
very well.
Jason Roy does not have the
technique to open the batting
successfully or consistently
against this Australian new ball
attack. If England cannot find a
replacement opener and do not
want to be seen to panic by
changing many players then I
would move Joe Denly up to
open.
I believe Joe Root should move
down to No 4, where he prefers to
bat. Maybe it is psychological but
a lot of this game is played in the
head.
If Joe can make more runs in
his preferred position of No 4
then you have to play him batting
where he is most comfortable.
He is trying to bat at No 3 tocover up other players’
deficiencies and if he does not
make runs there, it weakens the
team.
I would never move my best
batsman from their favoured
position because lesser players
cannot cut it. It does not make
sense. Who bats at No 3? No idea.
And nobody else has a clue either.
For me the second best
batsman in the England team is
Ben Stokes but can he do No 3 as
well as bowl? Is it a silly risk?
What does it say about the
technique of English batsmen
when everyone is scratching
their head for someone to bat up
front? How dreadful an
indictment that is of English
county cricket.
I would try Stokes. He has the
strong character, the mental
attitude and a better technique
than those who have been tried
before him. It is worth a shout.
I am sorry, if Stokes moves to
three then Roy does not get in the
team because I think Jos Buttler
tried really hard at Lord’s and
deserves to stay in the side.
He has not been in the runs but
stuck it out with a lot of character
and it will have done him the
world of good to spend some time
in the middle.
Jonny Bairstow did well and
scored a half-century because he
stayed in and worked hard for a
few runs at the start of his
innings. In the second innings,
because he had already scored a
fifty, he was like his normal self.
He had the confidence. You get
into a rhythm of playing Test
cricket.
It is not crash bang wallop. It
takes time.Bowled over:
Jofra Archer has
probably put
Steve Smith out
of the Headingley
Test matchMost times hit batsman's body/helmet
in internationals – since Archer's debut
LH Ferguson
K Rabada
KAJ Roach
MA Wood
PJ Cummins
JC Archer
6
7
8
9
12
19
GETTYGEOFFREY BOYCOTT
I would try Stokes at No 3
in the batting order. He
has the strong character
and the mental attitude
and ready for the taking by
England’s bowlers.
Over four innings England’s
bowlers have been able to put
Australia’s batsmen under
pressure, but unfortunately not6 *** Monday 19 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph
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