Australia have Jofra Archer plans, says captain Tim Paine
"We copped some short-pitched bowling, I think guys prepared for it but it’s another thing facing it"
Wednesday 21 August 2019 17:56, UK
Australia captain Tim Paine says his team have got plans in place to deal with the threat of England fast bowler Jofra Archer at Headingley.
The third Test gets underway on Thursday and Australia, who lead the five-match series 1-0, can retain the Ashes with victory in Leeds.
However, they will be without Steve Smith after he was struck on the neck by as ferocious bouncer from Archer, who roughed up a number of the Australian batsmen at Lord's, and the tourists are doing all they can to be ready for the England seamer this time around.
"I think you're always preparing for the next game and what you think you're going to face," Paine said.
"Obviously, we copped some short-pitched bowling, I think guys prepared for it but it's another thing facing it. Guys have got plans in place and we've prepared really well for it, it's now about going out and executing it.
"We think the Lord's wicket was quite a different one to face short-pitched bowling on so we're interested to see how this wicket plays but again, it's about adapting to the situation and the wicket and what any of their bowlers are trying to do. We've got to have a plan to counter that and I know our boys will.
The Ashes - Live
"I think when someone is bowling fast and the crowd is up and about, it's exciting, your adrenaline starts pumping.
"I think it's great for Test match cricket, I think the interest it has sparked in the last week or 10 days has been great for the game and I think people who have been watching it have thoroughly enjoyed it. We're looking forward to the challenge again this week."
After Josh Hazlewood replaced James Pattinson for the second Test, Paine suggested that Australia will make another change to their seam attack this week with Pattinson and Mitchell Starc pushing for a recall.
"We’re looking at maybe a bowling change at this stage but we’ll get through training today and make the best decision on what we think is the best combination to win this game"
Whoever gets the nod is likely to be up against Jason Roy, who passed a concussion test after being hit during a net session, but Paine played down the suggestion that Australia have got the sign over the struggling England opener, despite his tally of just 40 runs in four Ashes innings.
"I think opening the batting in Test cricket in England is difficult," he told reporters. "I know our guys are struggling as well to get the runs that they'd like. I just think it's international cricket, it's tough.
"We've seen Jason Roy play some amazing innings in one-day cricket, we saw David Warner do the same thing in the early days of his career and sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get used to Test cricket and the differences in it.
"But we've seen that Jason is a highly-skilled batsman and on his day he can take the game away from us so at no point do we think or treat him as if we've got the wood over him, we've got to keep running up and making sure that we execute really well to him because we know the talent that he's got."
Watch day one of the third Test between England and Australia at Headingley from 10am, Thursday on Sky Sports The Ashes and Main Event.
