Ashes 2019 | Not going to get caught in a 'battle of bouncers', states Justin Langer

Ashes 2019 | Not going to get caught in a 'battle of bouncers', states Justin Langer

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Australia coach Justin Langer has made it clear that his team will not get caught in an emotional battle trying to bounce out the English batsmen. The comments have come on the wake of Steve Smith's injury caused by a Jofra Archer bouncer, which eventually ruled the batsman out of the third Test.

When Steve Smith got floored by a Jofra Archer bouncer at Lord's after getting hit on the neck, there was stunned silence at the ground, and moments later, a sigh of relief, after the former got up on his feet without help. However, by then, he had sustained a concussion and had to walk off the field, and despite coming out to bat again a few minutes later, Smith's condition worsened with time, and eventually, the Australian had to be substituted off the match.

Now, on the wake of news coming out that he won't be participating in the Headingley Test, Australian coach Justin Langer has clarified that his men will not come out trying to bounce the English batsmen out, asserting that they will stick to their plans - that of getting the batsmen out.

“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 was quoted as saying by Telegraph.

“We're here to win the Test match, not to see how many helmets we can hit or how many bruises we can give, that's not winning Test matches, trust me, you can't get out with a bruise on your arm," he added.

Speaking of Smith, Langer said that the former skipper was a couple of days away from getting back to full fitness, but didn't have enough time to tick off all boxes. He then further went on to compare his injury to that of James Anderson, stating both teams will arguably be without their best players. He also added that he was confident that both the senior and the younger players would step up in the absence of the New South Welshman.

"He was probably a couple of days off being fit to be selected. At the end of the day it was really a no brainer, he felt a bit better yesterday (Monday) but he is not going to have time enough to tick off everything he needs to do to be ready to play," he said of Smith.

"Not unlike England losing James Anderson, he’s arguably their best bowler, we are going to arguably lose our best batter for this Test match, so it’s always a blow, no doubt about that. You take your best players out it always has an impact, we have got to make sure that all 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.

"We’ve talked the whole time about squad mentality and being ready and when things come up like they always do in this game and guys are ready to step up and I’m confident they will do that."

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