"I want to see more bouncers, test the batsmen out"- Former Australian pacer wants visitors to continue short-ball ploy on Day 3

Former Australian pacer Michael Kasprowicz has urged the visitors to continue with their short-ball barrage against the England batters on Day 3 of the ongoing Ashes 2023 Test at Lord's.

England seemed to be cruising at 188/1 when the Aussies decided to employ different tactics and go short. This paid dividends almost immediately as the hosts lost three wickets for just 34 runs, falling into the trap.

Speaking on SEN's The Captain's Run, here's what Michael Kasprowicz had to say about the importance of variations like the bouncer and also stringing together maiden overs:

"It’s part of your armoury as a fast bowler just to mess the batsman’s feet up. I want to see more bouncers, test the batsmen out. Just get them thinking about that short ball. There was only five maidens by the Australian bowlers. Sure, that’s a product of the way that the (English) batsmen are playing, but what you have to do in Test cricket is (bowl) consecutive maidens."

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Ian Healy 'worried' about Australia's bowlers ahead of Day 3

Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy is a bit concerned about the workload of the Aussie bowlers. Off-spinner Nathan Lyon walked off the field with a calf injury which seems a serious one.

Moreover, Healy also shed light on how expensive the trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Cameron Green have been. On this, he stated:

"That opening pair were very difficult to dislodge. I’m worried about our bowlers. We’ve got three bowlers going at six an over. If it wasn’t for Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, we’d be nowhere. They shared the wickets around eventually. Australia will work incredibly hard in the first session to keep it tight and produce enough sideways movement to get some wickets.”

The Aussies still have a buffer of 138 runs to work with and will be keen to strike early on Day 3. It will be interesting to see if they resume the short-ball ploy that they had employed late on Day 2, with Harry Brook and Ben Stokes having already added 56 for the fifth wicket.