Better than bazball—Ponting delivers brutal Ashes truth ahead of Second Test – sportingnews.com

Peter Maniaty
Former Australian Test captain Ricky Ponting has taken a major swipe at England’s bazball approach, saying the great Australian sides he was part of in the 2000s played in a similar way—just better.
While refusing to label England as stubborn, Ponting also says Ben Stokes and his teammates are doomed to keep getting the same results they saw in Perth unless they start playing to win key moments in the current Ashes Series.
“Thinking of some of the champion teams I was in, we were scoring at a very similar rate to what England are now—but we were doing it better and for longer periods of time which you have to be able to do in Test cricket,” Ponting said on the Mark Bouris podcast.
“We just saw a Test match finish in two days on the back of that style of play.”
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“They need to be willing to change the way they play and accept that they are making mistakes—they made so many glaring mistakes in Perth to let Australia back into the game and lose what was looking to be an unloseable Test match,” he continued.
“Yet after the match they came back and defended they way they played, ‘we’ll go harder next time’.
“The great teams I played in, no, if we had a day like that we’d sit down and we’d make sure we fixed that style of play for next time, sure you back your style in, but you have to play the moments as well.”
Highlighting that England have won just four Tests in Australia this century—including three in the one series in 2010-11—Ponting also scoffed at pre-series comments that this was the best England side to tour in 25 years and the worst Australian side since 2010. 
“My response to that is, ‘I don’t care who you bring, you still have to beat Australia’ and there’s more to that than just the individual players,” he said. 
“When the moments come in an Ashes Series let’s see who’s standing up at the end of it. Last week we saw the character come out, Australia were down and done, Travis Head makes a hundred in 80 balls and the game is over. 
“England weren’t just losing the moment, they were losing the game—they now need to win three of the next four Test matches if they want to go home with the Ashes.”
Looking ahead to this week’s Second Test in Brisbane, Ponting said he doesn’t expect change from England even though that’s exactly what’s required.
“England won’t change their style, they have themselves set in this way and they believe it’s the only way they’re going to beat Australia in Australia,” he said.
“They can do it, they can bounce back, but they have to win those moments. 
“If they’re not in the mindset in the middle of the Test to say ‘maybe it’s time to refine things a little bit because this is what my team needs me to do right now’ then they’ll keep getting the same results.”
The Second Ashes Test begins at the Gabba on Thursday, with play scheduled to begin at 2pm local time (AEST).
Peter Maniaty is a contributing Wires Writer at The Sporting News based in Sydney, Australia

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