Ricky Ponting claimed that as the Ashes series progressed, Australia was left “scratching its head” on how to stop Bazball. Ponting thought the final score of 2-2 was a fair outcome but insisted that the contentious ball change at The Oval had a significant impact.
With a tense two-wicket triumph at Edgbaston and a more convincing performance at Lord’s, where they fought off Ben Stokes’ attack, the visitors were up 2-0. However, they let a commanding position slip at Headingley, where England was able to win by three wickets.
After being destroyed for 592 runs at 5.49 an over at Old Trafford, they were able to retain the Ashes thanks to two days of rain. However, their chance to win the Ashes series for the first time in the country since 2001 was lost on the dramatic final day at The Oval after an earlier change of ball brought England’s quick bowlers back into the contest.
A lot of people talked about England’s Bazball.
SEN Tasmania breakfast show, co-hosted by former Australia captain Tim Paine, “The two contrasting styles of play were great to sit back and watch,” Ponting said. There was a lot of discussion about England’s Bazball strategy and whether it would be able to compete with the strength of the Australian assault. Looking back, it probably did.
“It undoubtedly left a few Australian players, coaches, and the captain at various points wondering how they were going to handle it. Although there was some debate in the final Test with the ball that changed the way it was and gave England some conditions they arguably shouldn’t have had, I believe the 2-2 result was probably fair given the caliber of cricket played throughout the series.
While Chris Woakes and Mark Wood made a significant impact after entering the lineup, Chris Woakes, who won the Compton-Miller award as Player of the Series despite playing in only three games, was singled out by Ponting as the crucial component of England’s comeback.
He claimed that we found it more difficult to comprehend their top-order batting. ” Really, the way that Crawley and Duckett were able to play at the beginning of every inning got England off to flying starts and immediately re-applied pressure to the Australian attack. The Australians found it difficult to control the momentum once it began to gather.
“Zak Crawley deserves a lot of credit; he entered the series with the greatest amount of pressure. As far as Test match batting went, that 180 he scored in Manchester was the best you could want to see; as I said, it left [Pat Cummins] and the other guys wondering how they were going to bowl at him.
Even the Australian boys may be taking a step back and analyzing how the other team played, wondering how we might be able to counter it in the future. I believe that many other nations are considering it as well and deciding that this is the best course of action if they want to compete with Australia.
Although he did believe that some new faces may be added to the bowling attack over the course of the next 12 months, Ponting supported the selection decisions taken by Australia throughout the series and applauded Cummins’ perseverance in getting through six games, including the World Test Championship final against India.
Cummo was certainly the pick once more as the series went on, but Starcy was amazing, he claimed. There were some doubts as to whether Pat could complete those six Tests while maintaining his intensity; there may have been a slight lull when he was being targeted at Manchester, but given how he recovered for the final Test, his pace at the outset was the best it had been in a while, so he continued to advance.
“As time went on, it seemed to me that under the appropriate circumstances, they could have at some point brought [Michael] Neser in. However, I believe that their selection process was sound. We are confident that there is adequate depth underneath these men, [Lance] Morris, and those waiting in the wings. I believe we have enough there, and I predict that throughout the course of the next 12 months, our bowling lineup may include a few different faces.
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