Former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara questioned the approach of Australian wicket-keeper batter Alex Carey’s approach in the 1st innings of the crucial 4th test in Manchester and reckons that he could have been more proactive in his batting on the final session of Day 1.
Winning the toss, England’s skipper Ben Stokes opted to bowl 1st on the wickets that had assistance for the bowlers, as the Australian batters played exceedingly well on Day 1, as most of the Aussies batters looked comfortable against the England bowlers in most parts of their innings before dismissed towards the end of the Day’s play.
Speaking on Skysports cricket, Kumar Sangakkara feels that Alex Carey has missed the opportunity to score quick runs with the second new ball, as he tried to be more defensive trying to shield Mitchell Starc on the final hour of Day 1’s play and believes that wicket-keeper batter was caught on the two minds, as he let the team down by not scoring in the crucial time.
“Carey tried to shield Mitchell Starc from the new ball and missed out on a lot of runs. That for me is not right because runs matter in the first innings. You’re not trying to save a game here. If you want to farm the strike then you have to be aggressive but Carey was caught in two minds. He let the team down by not scoring 5-10 runs when it mattered given the context of the series,” Kumar Sangakkara said.
Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Mitchell Marsh were dismissed after being settled in the middle as they could not get past the scores of 40s and 50s in the game, whereas Usman Khawaja, Alex Carey, and Cameron Green could not make an impact for the team in the 1st innings.
You Got To Be Able To Play And Grind That Period Out – Kumar Sangakkara
Kumar Sangakkara was baffled by the Australian batter’s strategies against the short ball, as they failed to tire the England pacers in the 1st two sessions of the game, and also questioned their tactics playing the short ball having grown up on the bouncy wickets of Australia.
“You can really sustain it (short ball barrage) for two sessions of play before the bowler’s tire. You got to be able to play and grind that period out. Mark Wood is a real danger with the short ball, and perhaps Broad.
“Woakes and Anderson not as much. Australia just haven’t been able to do that even after growing up playing on bouncy wickets and that’s one of the major reasons why England are on the ascendancy,” Kumar Sangakkara added.
The Australian team has done exceedingly well on England soil so far, as they showed a lot of composure to play the high-octane games in England. The Australian team will look to do well on Day 2 of the fourth test in Manchester to win the series on away soil.