England warned to beware of 'swing practitioner' Bird in Ashes series Down Under

An English columnist has warned the host Ashes team to beware of Australian fast bowler Jackson Bird in the return series in Australia if he is selected then, saying that he has shown as a practitioner of a different kind of swing that he will be at the 'pointy end' of the campaign to regain the urn.

John Townsend from The Independent said that keeping in mind a Cricket Australia's official's statement at the start of the current tour that a series defeat mattered little because Australia's real focus was on regaining the Ashes in front of home crowds, Bird could be on the verge of a long and fruitful career if he is selected for the winter series.

Townsend further said that Bird had already met captain Michael Clarke's criteria for coming to the attention of the selectors only after a few sessions into his third Test by often topping 85mph with good-length curlers that tried and tested the defences of England's top-order batsmen.

Townsend also stated that there are almost no doubts over Bird's capacity at Test level after he claimed 11 wickets in his opening two Tests, adding that although there are a number of paceman in the Australian landscape at different stages of form, fitness and career advancement, Bird appears to have an advantage over each of them.

According to Townsend, Bird never bowls a bad spell, rarely bowls a bad over and has few bad balls, adding that even though he lacks the fire and work rate of Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle respectively, both attributes may be unseen rather than absent in his short Test history.