Cricket“We don’t see this every day”- Ponting praises Stokes’ experimental captaincy
Former Australian legend Ricky Ponting is one of the experts who is impressed by England’s bold approach in the Ashes. Recently in an ICC interview, Ponting remembered their opener Zak Crawley and the way he started the game with a cover drive on Australian captain Pat Cummins ball, this approach clearly showed their Bazball mindset.
Stokes’ unusual field setting got them a wicket
“We don’t see this every day, and it is a sign of what is going to happen in the future, and it is also a sign of the change in attitude of the current England team. England skipper Ben Stokes tried all manner of experimental fielding and bowling tactics during the first innings against Australia, and his unusual field setting helped them dismiss Usman Khawaja on the third day. Stokes’s commitment to take things forward is great for the Test,” he said.
Ponting is impressed by Ben’s captaincy
While appreciating Stokes, Ponting stated, “The way he is making changes almost on every ball, it is hard to keep up, but he is doing it greatly, and this shows his active captaincy. He always tries to move the game forward and looks at the possibilities of picking up wickets to change the momentum of the game. During Khawaja’s innings, he changed the field a number of times and made many bowling and tactical changes to get him out, which eventually worked.
England suffered one blow
The field set by Ben Stokes for Khawaja was something that had never been seen in test cricket before. There was a canopy of fielders around and in front of the batsman, and their approach was to bowl slow yorkers. The only blow England suffered was when their spinner Moen Ali was fined for spraying his finger on the second day because he injured his spinning finger. Ali didn’t know that players had to get approval from umpires before using these substances.
Ponting also believes that Moeen’s injury could have a big impact on the outcome of the first test. “During the first innings, while bowling, Moeen was seen in a slight pain, which affected his performance a bit. With the way the wicket is playing, it is going to take a lot of turns in the last two days, and if England don’t have a spinner, it could drop their performance. They need to bat well and make a good score” he concluded.
