'Only needs one blow': Stunning ban call after Steve Smith scare

A former Wallaby and leading Australian sports journalist has floated the idea of outlawing bouncers in the wake of the Steve Smith scare.

Smith was ruled out of the third Ashes Test with concussion after copping a brutal Jofra Archer bouncer in the neck during the second Test.

The cricketing world held its breath when Smith slumped to the Lord's turf, with the scenes eerily similar to the tragic incident that led to Phillip Hughes' death in 2014.

Speaking on Channel Nine, Peter FitzSimons said in light of the Smith incident that perhaps it was time for cricket officials to consider banning deliveries that target a batsman's head.

“Should it be permissible? In other sports — rugby union, rugby league, AFL — attacking above the head — off you go, sent from the field," FitzSimons said.

“And yet in cricket, a team sport, is it permissible to have rules where you’re hurling a leather missile at 155km/h at another bloke’s head and possibly his neck?”

“It only needs one blow."

Archer shows he’s got more than just pace

There’s plenty more to Archer’s game than bouncers as the England quick expertly proved on day one of the third Test.

Archer insisted his six-wicket haul on the opening day at Headingley proved there was more in his bag of tricks than just raw pace.

The build-up to this match had featured plenty of talk about the physical threat posed by England fast bowler Archer.

But the quick deployed his fearsome short-ball sparingly during a superb return of six for 45 in 17.1 overs as Australia, 1-0 up in the five-match series, were dismissed for just 179 after England captain Joe Root won the toss in overcast conditions on his Yorkshire home ground.

"I don't need to run in and bowl 90 mph every spell to get wickets," said Archer.

"I've shown that today. There will be times in Test matches you have to focus on hitting your length. There will be times to ramp it up as well but you don't have to go into it every innings."

Archer, the 24-year-old Barbados-born son of an English father, said conditions in Leeds dictated why he bowled fewer short balls than at Lord's.

"I bowled a few, obviously to let the batter know they are still there but this wasn't a short-ball wicket, it wasn't as hard as Lord's.

"So it's just get it on the full line and length and it got results today."

‘World-class bowling at its best’

Australia did manage one substantial stand in an innings that was finished inside 53 overs, with David Warner (61) and Marnus Labuschagne (74) putting on 111 for the third wicket.

Labuschange's innings was his second straight half-century after making 59 as Smith's concussion replacement, the first in Test history, in the second innings at Lord's.

Archer, however, swung the match back England's by having Warner caught behind off a 90 mph delivery.

It was the start of a collapse that saw Australia lose their last eight wickets for 43 runs.

"That's incredible Test bowling," said Warner.

"It's a bit like how (South Africa great) Dale Steyn with the new ball tried to just use the conditions and then sort of ramp it up when they need to.

"That was world-class bowling at its best."

This was Warner's first double-figure score of the series after just 18 runs in four previous innings.

"Today was about trying to negate that good ball and not get out to it," said Warner in what his and Smith's first Test series since they completed their 12-month bans for a ball-tampering scandal in South Africa.

"I had a lot of luck, I played and missed quite a lot but I kept my bat nice and tight," added Warner, who also praised Labuschagne's "outstanding discipline".

With AFP