“It's got potential to work again” - Mitchell Starc admits Australia open to targeting England’s ‘Bazball’ philosophy in 2nd innings

Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has admitted that they are open to targeting England’s batters with accurate short-pitched bowling in the second innings as well. He made the observation after the hosts lost six for 47 on Day 3 of the Lord’s Test to fold up for 325 in their first innings on Friday, June 30.

Having lost the opening Ashes 2023 Test by two wickets, England find themselves on the back foot at Lord’s as well. Responding to Australia’s first-innings total of 416, the hosts were well placed at 188/1. However, three batters fell in quick succession while attempting to take on short balls in the last session on Day 2.

England stuck to their aggressive ploy on Day 3 as well and are now in serious danger of going 0-2 in the five-match series. Speaking at the end of the day’s play, Starc, who registered figures of 3/88, asserted that Australia’s bowlers found a way to counter England’s aggression.

He said:

"They [England] want to play aggressive cricket, as they've said for a period of time now. It's just about finding ways to counteract that or to continue to create chances. We were quite accurate and saw an opportunity if they wanted to take it on. We had fields in positions where if chances were created, hopefully they went to hand.”

Asked if he feels that the ploy can work in the second innings as well, a confident Starc replied:

“It's worked for one innings. It's got potential to work again if we need to call on it.”

The 33-year-old, however, admitted that whether they stick to the same game plan or not will depend on the wicket.

He stated:

"We'll see how the wicket reacts in the next couple of days. It's not playing a whole lot of tricks, but it's been quite inconsistent and maybe getting a gauge of the speed of ball-to-bat can be a bit difficult. So it could potentially be a ploy.

"We've now tried it and had a bit of success with the way they played it, so could call on that again, either this game or throughout the series," he added.

Starc got Australia off to a great start on Day 3, sending back Ben Stokes in the first over. England could never recover from the early setback.

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“Travis Head can play a role for us” - Starc on Nathan Lyon’s absence

Although Australia are ahead in the Lord’s Test, they will miss the services of off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who suffered a calf injury while fielding on Day 2. Starc, however, backed part-timer Travis Head to do a good job in the second innings.

He commented:

"I'm not sure if there is any more weather around the next couple of days but first thing's first, build that lead. Fortunately, we've got someone like Travis Head who can play a role for us [as a spinner].

"If we can do the bulk of the work with seamers and then Trav can fill in when he needs to," he asserted.

Head impressed in the first innings with the ball, dismissing Ollie Robinson and Stuart Broad in one over.