Talking about the ongoing Ashes series, Australia are 1-0 ahead in the five-match series after they won the opener by a huge margin of 251 runs in Birmingham.
England's Ben Stokes celebrates after winning the second semi-final match of the 2019 World Cup between against Australia at the Edgbaston Cricket Stadium in Birmingham, England on July 11, 2019. England won by 8 wickets. (Photo: Surjeet Kumar/IANS)
Ahead of the third Ashes Test, England all-rounder Ben Stokes has warned Australia to expect more intense fast bowling from Jofra Archer in their next encounter at Headingley.
Archer, who made his Test debut in the second Ashes Test at Lord’s, scalped 5 wickets. Not only did he impress with his quality pace, touching speeds of around 95mph, but he also troubled the opposition’s batsmen with his attacking bouncers.
“It’s part of the game and a big part of Jofra’s game, being aggressive, not letting batsmen settle,” said Stokes. “That bouncer of his is a huge asset and he’s going to keep on doing it.”
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Notably, one of Archer’s bouncers hit Steve Smith on the neck; Smith missed the last day of the Lord’s Test with concussion, and his availability for the next Test is still in doubt.
“When someone takes a nasty blow, no bowler is going to say ‘I’m not going to bowl that again because I don’t want to hit them again’,” Stokes said. “The concern is always there when someone takes it, but next ball, when you get back to the mark, it’s ‘I’m going to keep doing it’.”
According to Stokes, what makes Archer all the more lethal is his ability to bowl bouncers without any change in his bowling action. “He doesn’t have any tells. Some bowlers you get a tell when they’re going to bowl a bouncer or a different ball.
“Because everything is so rhythmical with Jofra it is tough to see when that bouncer is coming. He’s very tight to the stumps as well. Everything looks just so languid, you wonder if he’s loose and then he fires one … Watching the ball fly through, it was very impressive.”
Talking about the ongoing Ashes series, Australia are 1-0 ahead in the five-match series after they won the opener by a huge margin of 251 runs in Birmingham. However, in the second match, rain-marred the play and eventually the game ended in a draw.
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