Langer: Australia will not be drawn into bouncer war
Australia will not be suckered into a bouncer war with England, despite losing Steve Smith for the third Test with his concussion injury.
Instead, Justin Langer, the head coach, will tell his team to concentrate on winning the Test rather than settling any scores, knowing that if Australia win at Headingley they will retain the Ashes.
Australia’s tactic on this tour has been to bowl a consistent line and length, exposing England’s lack of patience, which is why Mitchell Starc has been left out.
He looks set to continue on the sidelines, with James Pattinson for Peter Siddle the most likely change.
The temptation for Australia would be to take on Jofra Archer and respond with their own barrage of bouncers, but Langer (pictured) wants his players to stick to their methods.
“We know what our plans are to beat England. What we’re not going to do is get caught up in an emotional battle of who’s going to bowl the quickest bouncers,” Langer said. “We’re here to win the Test match, not to see how many helmets we can hit, how many bruises we can give.
“You’ve got to play on skill, not emotion, and it’s hard for young players, even senior players. You can get caught up in the atmosphere, you can get caught up in the contest. But it’s not an ego game – you’ve got to just keep trusting your skill, keep watching the ball like a hawk.
“I keep saying simplify as much as possible, so we’re winning on skill, not emotion. “That’s the challenge of mental toughness, of concentration, of what champion players do over good players.” Smith was ruled out of the third Test as soon as it became apparent he would not take part in training yesterday morning. While his teammates netted, he chatted on the sidelines with former Australia captain Mark Taylor and will now try to prove his fitness for the fourth Test in a three-day tour game against Derbyshire next week. Marnus Labuschagne will take Smith’s place after an impressive performance as his concussion substitute at Lord’s.
“He was probably a couple of days off being fit to be selected,” Langer said. “At the end of the day it was really a no-brainer. He felt a bit better yesterday, but he is not going to have time enough to tick off everything he needs to do to be ready.
“Not unlike England losing James Anderson, he’s arguably their best bowler, we are going to arguably lose our best batter for this Test, so it’s always a blow. We have to make sure the other guys, our senior players and our younger players, all step up and fill what are almost unfillable shoes, as he is almost the best player in the world.”