Former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara feels that Australian wicketkeeper batter Alex Carey could have been a bit more proactive in his batting on Day 1 of the fourth Ashes 2023 Test at Old Trafford, Manchester. Carey scored only 20 runs in 49 balls and Sangakkara opined on how he didn’t try to score quickly with the second new ball. Instead, he played defensively and eventually ended up losing his wicket as well.
Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket’s Ashes Podcast, Kumar Sangakkara said: “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.”
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However, Kumar Sangakkara was also surprised to see Australian batters struggle against England’s short-ball strategy on Day 1. He also feels that being from a country that produces bouncy pitches, Australia should have been smarter in facing them.
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“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. 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 concluded.
