Legendary captain Ricky Ponting believes England have more questions to answer than Australia after the completion of a nail-biting first Ashes 2023 Test match in Birmingham yesterday. The riveting events throughout the match were such that it has single-handedly enticed a plethora of contrasting opinions from the global cricketing fraternity.
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Having not won a Test series in England since 2001, a 1-0 advantage should bolster Australia captain Pat Cummins and his men’s confidence with respect to turning the tables after more than a couple of decades. That being said, the visitors hadn’t managed to win a series even after gaining a similar edge in the past as well.
Ricky Ponting Questions England Post Birmingham Loss
Even though the margin of victory was just 2 wickets at Edgbaston, Ponting was of the opinion that the home team has more issues to sort out despite their grand success in the recent past. Much like several other experts, Ponting also put question marks over the sustainability of Bazball in Test cricket.
“I think England [have more questions to answer]. Their style of play, is it [Bazball] going to hold up in an Ashes series? Do they declare at 393 [on] Day 1?”
It is noteworthy that England have won 11 and lost three Tests (including two absolute tense finishes) since captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum combined under the Bazball era. While they are yet to participate in a drawn Test under the current regime, they are also yet to lose a Test series having defeated New Zealand, India, South Africa and Ireland at home and Pakistan away from home.
Nasser Hussain Counters Ricky Ponting
As was the case during their playing days, former England captain Nasser Hussain attempted to provide a solid counter to Ponting’s lack of trust in Bazball. Keeping his response simple, Hussain opined that such concerns are understandable now that England have lost the first match.
However, he did make it a point to mention how the (un)Australian “style of play” was under the scanner throughout the first four days of the match. For the uninitiated, Australia were way more defensive with their fielding placements which earned Cummins severe criticism.
“You only win if you win. Basically, everything else is nonsense. Once you win, your style of play, defensive fields, everything you’ve done, the side you selected, it worked. And once you lose, Bazball, declaration and everything gets questioned. It was a fabulous game of cricket. This place was sold out for five days.”
Not wanting to bring an end to an informative discussion for host broadcaster Sky Sports Network, Ponting admitted to be a fan of Bazball and expected Stokes and McCullum to continue playing in the same way in the remaining four Tests as well. It’s just that he suggested them to be more flexible than sticking to one approach throughout a five-day Test match.
“By no means, I was saying that England’s method was wrong. I just love them play. It just goes on to show that there are more than one way to skin a cat. This is a long-hard game. “
When all’s said and done, all eyes will now be on the second match of the series to be played at Lord’s from June 28.
