The opening day of the fourth Ashes 2023 Test between England and Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester witnessed a gripping contest with the match swinging like a pendulum of a clock. England’s bowlers managed to take 8 wickets in the day, but Australia’s resilient batting, considering the weather forecast, allowed them to post a competitive total of nearly 300 on the board.
However, one Australian player’s approach at the crease didn’t sit well with cricket legend Kumar Sangakkara. Sangakkara expressed his disappointment with wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey‘s cautious approach while facing the new ball, particularly in an attempt to shield his teammate, Mitchell Starc. This over-cautious approach resulted in Carey missing several opportunities to score easy runs during the crucial phase of the innings.
“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,” remarked Sangakkara while speaking on Sky Sports Cricket’s Ashes Podcast.
Furthermore, Sangakkara expressed his bewilderment at the Australian batters’ struggles against England’s short-ball tactics. Considering that Australia is known for producing bouncy pitches, Sangakkara expected the visitors to be more adept at handling the barrage of short-pitched deliveries.
“You can really sustain it (short ball barrage) for two sessions of play before the bowlers really tire. You got to be able to play and grind that period out. 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,” added the former Sri Lanka captain.
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