Bowlers will Continue to Bowl Short balls to England's Tail says Steve Smith

Australian skipper Steve Smith recently revealed that his fast bowlers would continue to hurry the England tailenders with short balls in the remaining two Test at the Magellan Ashes series.

Smith’s statement comes after former England cricketer Mike Atherton called on the umpires to improve their performance in enforcing the game`s laws around bouncers which are designed to shield batsmen down in the order.

The host Australia decimated the visitors by an innings and 41 runs in the third Test at WACA to regain the Ashes Urn with two matches still to play at Melbourne and Sydney.

In the three Tests so far, England’s lower-order batsmen were hurried by the Australian pace battery with bouncers. England’s 11th batsmen James Anderson was struck a fearsome blow on the helmet grille by a brutal bouncer from Pat Cummins in Perth which drew criticism from Atherton. Atherton said he was horrified by the continuous attacks on England’s lower-order batsmen which included six bouncers targeted to Anderson.

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Australian skipper, Smith, who is currently in the form of his life said that there would be no relief for the tailenders in the fourth Test starting on Boxing Day.

“We obviously had a plan from the start of the series that we were going to bowl a lot of short stuff to those guys, much like we did back in 2013. And no doubt if they have the kind of pace our bowlers could generate they would probably do the same thing,” Smith was heard saying to the reporters.

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Former Australia pacer Mitchell Johnson, who created havoc in the English batting line-up four years back picking up 37 wickets in the 2013-14 Ashes took a jab at the visitors saying that they should learn how to bat.

“Isn`t it two short balls in an over? That`s the rules. If it`s not over their heads or the shoulder restriction, how is it dangerous? I don`t see the issue with it — yeah, some guys struggle to hold the bat. But whose fault is that? That`s not the fault of the Australian quicks. (England) should be working on their batting,” Johnson told to Fox Sports.