Jackson Bird's unerring consistency may have placed him at top of queue for third Test spot, writes Richard Hinds News Limited's Richard Hinds discusses the Day Two action from Australia's tour match against Sussex. IN his still brief first class and Test career, all Jackson Bird has done is take wickets and maintain intense pressure on batsmen by bowling with immaculate line and length and subtle variation. Otherwise, nothing much. Facetious, yes. But it seems to sum up the attitude some have taken to the Sydney-born Tasmanian paceman. Bird has done so well, so simply, that his doubters look for reasons why he should not have. A yard too slow. Controlled rather than curvaceous swing. Lacking the killer ball of James Pattinson or Mitchell Starc. Without the red-faced aggression of Peter Siddle. All theories, together with a back injury diagnosed during the tour of India , that might have justified Bird's exclusion from the first two Tests. But selectorial alibis contradicted by Bird's unerringly consistent performance. Jackson Bird has taken 2/33 against Sussex to stake his claim for the vacant fast bowler's place in the Australian side for the Third Ashes Test. Instant success upon moving to Tasmania, where he took 53 wickets at 16 in his first Shield Season. An excellent start to Test cricket - albeit against poor Sri Lankan batting - in which he took 11 wickets in two Tests, including a man of the match performance at the SCG. Now, more modestly, a return of 2/33 in 14 typically tight, testing overs on the second day of Australia's tour game against Sussex. A performance that might well see Bird jump Starc in the queue to replace the injured Pattinson for the third Test at Old Trafford. Bird's figures would have been even better had Steve Smith clung to a low catch at second slip from James Taylor, the batsman earmarked to take Kevin Pietersen's place at Old Trafford if the South Engfrican fails to recover from a calf strain. The dismissal of the tiny Taylor - he could be the first batsman concussed by a yorker - might have landed a small psychological blow for the Australians. Instead, Bird merely proved, yet again, he knows how to find the edge. Jackson Bird may be brought in for the third Test at Lord's. In English conditions, that might be the result of a disappointing tour with Australia A last year when - uncharacteristically - he tried to do too much with the ball on unresponsive wickets. This time, as Starc ripped the ball in short and stared down the batsmen, Bird was at his controlled best. Accordingly, Bird can sound more like a penny-pinching accountant than the traditional hairy-chested paceman when he talks about his craft. "Diligent on my lines and lengths," "build pressure," "try not to get carried away," "just stand the seam up and hit the right length" is his unintimidating self-assessment. Similarly, Bird deflects a flattering comparison with England's ultra-consistent James Anderson: "I don't swing ball as much as him, I just try to bash a length, and try and be as tight as possible." If Bird plays in Manchester, he will join the two players who had beaten him to a place in past two Tests teams - Siddle at Trent Bridge, and Ryan Harris at Lord's. If a Siddle-Bird-Harris attack might lack brilliance, it will make the English work hard for their runs. Of course, it is been wretched batting rather than poor bowling that has been Australia's major problem. Bird is a genuine No.11 who, unlike the Trent Bridge imposter Ashton Agar, will not solve that problem. But if Australia wants some whose only virtue is to keep the screws tightened, and take wickets, Bird might be the man.