Former Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting shared his verdict on England’s Bazball approach on the course ashes 2023. He admitted that the Ben Stokes-led team has mastered certain parts of the game, but still hasn’t been good enough to take the lead in the series.
England suffered a major blow in the series as the fourth Test of the series in Manchester was washed away by rain. This led to Australia retaining the Ashes despite the hosts dominating the visitors on all three days of the game before rain played spoilsport.
England had made a brilliant comeback in the series after being bogged down in the first two games. But unfortunately, the rain gods did not support them because they had a golden opportunity to win the Ashes. The series is 2-1 with one last game to play.
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Bazball’s approach to England has entertained many in the series. They have played a fearless brand of cricket, but have also made mistakes at times that cost them crucial moments in the first two games of the series at Edgbaston and Lord’s.
Ricky Ponting said England have not been as smart as they could have been, pointing to the statement in the first Test followed by the first innings batting at Lord’s as poor decisions on their part. Ricky Ponting also praised them for his batting in Manchester. Speaking to ICC, Ricky Ponting said:
“Some of those decisions, Edgbaston’s statement, Lord’s first-inning hitting, I think they got a little carried away at the time. However, one thing that probably hasn’t been talked about enough is… they’ve talked about the right time and the right place to play that kind of cricket and they want to have aggressive, attacking cricketers, but they also want to have smart cricketers.
“I think a couple of times they probably haven’t been as smart as they could have been. The second day in Manchester was amazing cricket. Zak Crawley, 189 of 182 balls, and Joe Root, almost a run-a-ball, how much he won, 80-something. It was one of the most entertaining and demoralizing Test cricket matches I have probably ever seen.”
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AUS vs. ENG: They’ve dominated but still haven’t been good enough to put their noses up front: Ricky Ponting on England
Ricky Ponting went on to say England can be proud of what they are trying to achieve but noted that despite dominating they are 2-1 down and unable to win the series. Ricky Ponting explained:
“And that’s why it’s nice to be a part of, but at the end of the day, they’re down 2-1, they can’t win the series, and as much as they’ve dominated, say they’ve mastered certain parts of the game, it still hasn’t been good enough to put its nose in front of the series.”
“England can be very proud of what they are trying to achieve and what they are trying to do. You know, so many kids on the pitch, so many kids enjoying Test cricket, families enjoying it, people who aren’t necessarily big fans of Test matches are messaging everyone talking about how great it’s been to see this kind of style of play.”
The fifth and final Test of Ashes 2023 will be played from July 27 at The Oval in London. It will be a chance for England to take out their agony of rain and level the series.
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