"You're not trying to save a game here" - Kumar Sangakkara questions Australia keeper Alex Carey's approach on Day 1 of 4th Ashes Test

Former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara feels Australian wicketkeeper 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 just 20 runs in 49 balls and Sangakkara shed light on how the former didn't look to score quickly with the second new ball. Instead, he became a bit too defensive and eventually ended up losing his wicket.

Speaking on Sky Sports Cricket's Ashes Podcast, here's what Kumar Sangakkara had to say about Alex Carey's approach:

"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.

"He let the team down by not scoring 5-10 runs when it mattered given the context of the series."

---

Kumar Sangakkara on Australia's poor batting against short ball

Kumar Sangakkara was also a bit baffled to see Australian batters struggle against England's short-ball ploy on Day 1. He feels that being from a country that produces bouncy pitches, the visitors should have been smarter in weathering the storm and waiting for the England bowlers to get tired.

On this, Sangakkara stated:

"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."

Australia will hope that they get to at least the 350-run mark with both Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins good enough with the bat.

​