"England had opportunities in those first two Test matches" - Ricky Ponting after Australia retain the Ashes urn
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting reflected that England had the opportunity to win the first two Ashes 2023 Tests, but squandered it. However, he lauded England for tweaking their approach as the series went on.
England lost two close matches at Edgbaston and Lord's as Australia won the key moments. Despite being eight down in pursuit of 282 in the opening Test, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon added an unbroken 55 to take their side over the line.
The second Test saw them overcome Ben Stokes' 155 in the fourth innings to emerge triumphant by 43 runs.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Ricky Ponting observed that England oozed self-belief despite losing the first two Tests.
"England had opportunities in those first two Test matches and knew their style was standing up to what Australia had. You could hear the self-belief coming through Stokes, coming through [Brendon] McCullum, coming through all the players, whenever we spoke to them," Ponting said.
The 48-year-old lauded Stokes and Co. for sticking to what they know best and hailed McCullum for keeping things simple, adding:
"They were unwavering in what they wanted to do and how they wanted to play. I think they have learnt along the way. It was just a little tweak in game awareness, that's all it was.
"If you look at the players they have, I don't think McCullum is asking them do anything other than be themselves. He is saying, 'Go out and trust your way.'"
Despite being 0-2 down, England denied Australia their first series win on English soil since 2001. They beat Pat Cummins and Co. at Headingley and the Oval to square the series 2-2, while the fourth Test in Manchester ended in a rain-enforced draw.
"I am looking forward to seeing them in the future" - Ricky Ponting on England's young batters
Ricky Ponting further suggested that the likes of Zak Crawley, 25, and Harry Brook, 24, will only get better going forward. He said:
"This is just the tip of the iceberg, I believe. It is a relatively young team, some of the guys haven't played a lot of Test cricket - Harry Brook, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley can all still improve. England will get better, tweak things along the way. I am looking forward to seeing them in the future."
Trademark Zak Crawley 🤌
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Crawley, who made 480 runs in the 2023 Ashes series, was the second-highest run-getter behind Usman Khawaja (496). Brook, meanwhile, scored 363 runs.