Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting feels Pat Cummins and Co. were well within their rights to appeal after Jonny Bairstow prematurely left the crease in the second innings of the second Test match at Lord’s, which the visitors won by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
On the final ball of the 52nd over, bowled by Cameron Green, Bairstow wandered out of his crease to have a chat with his skipper Ben Stokes. But the ball was still in play as the umpire hadn’t called ‘over’ and Australian wicket-keeper Alex Carey was quick to have a shy at the stumps. In the end, Bairstow was well out of his crease when Carey hit the bullseye, and England batter was caught off-guard.
In fact, a lot of cricket boffins reckon Australian skipper Pat Cummins should have withdrawn the appeal but Ponting feels otherwise. Ponting feels it was a test for Cummins’ captaincy and he did the right thing.
Ponting said in an interview with Nasser Hussain for the Daily Mail: “I just thought it would be a test for Pat. I didn’t think he had to withdraw the appeal, that’s for sure. Jonny did the wrong thing and he’s paid for it by losing his wicket in an Ashes Test. It’s as simple as that.”
Meanwhile, Ponting expressed his surprise at how Australia started at Edgbaston in the opening Test. Cummins was defensive in his field settings and England declared at 393-8 after 78 overs. However, Punter reckons it is hard to be critical as the visitors won that match by two wickets.
Ponting said: “I knew Australia would come here well-prepared for what England have been doing. We were all a bit surprised at how Australia started tactically at Edgbaston but they won so it’s hard to be critical.”
The two-time World Cup-winning captain feels England bowlers need to do a better job.
He continued: “It’s an England attack that needs time to take wickets, we’ve seen that in these first two Tests. I was more concerned with how the England batting would cope with the skill and experience of the Australian bowling.”
The third Ashes Test will be played at Leeds, Headingley from Thursday onwards.
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