Ashes 2023: Ricky Ponting praises Ben Stokes for his bold captaincy in the Edgbaston Test

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has expressed his admiration for England’s bold and attacking style of play, as well as the strategic genius of captain Ben Stokes, during the opening three days of the highly anticipated first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.

Ponting, who is renowned for his astute cricketing analysis, was impressed by England’s fresh approach against a team of Australia’s caliber. The England team, under the leadership of Ben Stokes, exhibited an innovative and aggressive mindset, capturing Ponting’s attention and winning his approval.

Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review, Ponting said: There was a lot of chat around ‘will Bazball stand up? Are they going to be courageous enough to play that way against the Australians?

“Well, I think that question has been answered for us.”

He added: “(Opener) Zak Crawley made a pretty big statement on the game I thought. First ball of the Test match, Australia captain (Pat Cummins) running in, ball one of an Ashes series and he stands up on top of the bounce and crunches one through the covers first ball.

“You don’t see that every day. And that’s a sign of what’s to come, but also a sign of this change of attitude from the current England team.”

During Australia’s first innings, Stokes orchestrated peculiar field placements that played a pivotal role in dismissing centurion Usman Khawaja on day three. Ponting commended Stokes for his bold decision-making and praised his commitment to pushing the boundaries of the Test game.

“It’s hard to keep up with them all, he’s making a change almost every ball, which is great, it’s proactive captaincy. He’s always trying to move the game forward, he’s looking at any little way that he possibly can to pick up a wicket and change the momentum of the game,” Ponting noted.

“With Khawaja’s innings, I’d hate to try and count how many times he changed the field for him and how many bowling changes and tactical changes he made to try and get Khawaja out – and then it finally worked.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a field like that in Test cricket before. There was just an umbrella of fielders around in-front of the batsman’s face. And it was all about bowling a couple of slower balls and being able to bowl a yorker. And sure enough, Khawaja used his feet, gave himself some room, gave up his stumps, and the yorker knocked his off stump out of the ground.

“It’s fantastic stuff. It’s really refreshing for the Test game to see a team play this way and a captain happy to try everything he possibly can,” the legendary cricketer concluded.

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June 19, 2023 at 12:43PM