Ricky Ponting, Ashes 2023, England vs Australia: After Australia’s victory in the first Test of the 2023 Ashes series played at Edgbaston, former captain Ricky Ponting has raised questions on ‘Baseball’. Australia’s approach has worked against England, says Ricky Ponting, who believes the Ben Stokes-led side’s ‘baseball’ approach is now being questioned.
In the first Test of the Ashes series, captain Pat Cummins scored an unbeaten 44 to give Australia a thrilling two-wicket win at Edgbaston. Chasing 281 runs on the last day of the match, Cummins made a match-winning unbeaten partnership of 55 runs for the 9th wicket with Nathan Lyon. Australia’s victory came after Ben Stokes’ daring first-innings declaration at 393/8 on the first day’s play.
Ricky Ponting told Sky Sports, “I think England have the most questions to answer. Their style of play, is it going to hold up in the Ashes series? I’m not saying that England’s way Wrong, I love watching them play, but it just goes to show that there’s more than one way to get what you want.”
The former Australian captain further said, “It is a long and difficult game. Australia’s way has worked. I want this series to be played in that way and I know that Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum (England captain and coach ) will play the same way.”
On the other hand, former England captain Kevin Pietersen believes that the fans of the team will now expect the victory of the hosts in the second Test starting at Lord’s from 28 June. Also, he believes that results matter a lot in a series like the Ashes.
Pietersen said, “I don’t think we can pick this team apart too much. Declaring the innings is definitely something that will be talked about. However, the way both teams played, and Ben Stokes and With the identity of Brendon McCullum, Test cricket needs some entertainment, we got it here and we got it in the last five days.”
Pietersen added, “Even a senior Australia player was saying something that he doesn’t think Test cricket can or should be played like this. English fans want to win. Of course, they want to be entertained.” And the atmosphere was great. It was a tight game, but the England fans want them to win. You can talk as much as you want, but in an Ashes series it’s about the results.”