Ashes 2021-22: Ricky Ponting explains why England are ‘the worse-performing team in Australia’
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slammed England’s performance in the first three Ashes Tests, blaming Joe Root’s team. After defeating England by an innings and 14 runs in the third Ashes Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Tuesday, Australia pacer Scott Boland got six wickets in the second innings. Australia won the Ashes with this victory, taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team perform worse than what I’ve witnessed in Australia during the last three matches. England may need to consider how they might improve their conditions to make them more conducive to our needs. They’re still good in England, but they’re not so good when they come here – so maybe they’ll play more with the Kookaburra ball,” Ponting said, according to Cricket.com.
“Perhaps they flatten the wickets a little, removing some of the swing and seam, allowing batsmen to hit high totals and bat for extended periods of time. This might be the same hiccup that (Australia) experienced three or four years ago,” he speculated.
The second innings of the Melbourne Test saw England bowled out for 68, resulting in an innings defeat. The batters for the Three Lions haven’t performed well, and this is especially true of Root and David Malan, who have shown some battling spirit with the bat.
“Without naming names, I’ve seen some of England’s top order batsmen in the last few visits, and there are some techniques that I know will not stand out at Test level.” Shoddy technique in difficult conditions and over the world, according to Ponting When you play against world-class bowlers, you get what happened at the MCG.
“At the Test level, the small swing double-doublers who are getting them out there (in county cricket) aren’t confronting it.” They’ll be up against bowlers who can truly bowl. I’ve witnessed them fighting. They’re ‘simply not good enough,’ he added, based on what they’ve seen together.
