"I think he, within himself, feels like he's probably not quite at his best right now" - Ricky Ponting backs 'champion' James Anderson to bounce back
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting reckons that James Anderson has looked far from his best in the Ashes so far, but backs the veteran pacer to find his rhythm sooner rather than later. The 41-year-old has taken only two wickets across three innings at an average of 81.00.
Anderson ended up wicketless during the final innings of the first Ashes Test. He was unable to make the ball talk in the second Test as well in overcast conditions and a surface with some grass on it.
The veteran pacer recently held the No.1 ranking for pace bowlers in Tests following his exceptional away series against New Zealand before being thwarted by Ravichandran Ashwin. While he is still ranked second on the list, he will have to be among the wickets in the remainder of the Ashes to hold onto the spot.
Claiming that it would be foolish to write off someone like James Anderson due to a couple of poor outings, Ponting said on the latest edition of the ICC Review:
"You never write off champions. That's one thing I know about the game. James Anderson has been a champion of the game and will continue to be until he wants to pull up stumps. Skill wise, it still looks like it's all there. But I think he, within himself, feels like he's probably not quite at his best right now.”
Anderson sustained a niggle while playing in the County Championship ahead of the Ashes. He could not make it to the playing XI for the one-off Test against Ireland as well, paving the way for Josh Tongue to make his debut. The veteran pacer was critical of the Edgbaston pitch for the first Test and admitted that he is searching for rhythm in the series.
"I thought that those conditions would suit Boland down to the ground as well" - Ricky Ponting on Australia making the switch to their pace bowling unit
Scott Boland stepped up to the plate in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against India following an injury to Josh Hazlewood. However, with all four seamers being fully fit ahead of the Ashes, it brought up a selection conundrum.
Boland retained his place for the series opener at the expense of Mitchell Starc, but failed to make much of an impression on a relatively flat surface with barely anything on offer. The left-arm seamer eventually replaced Boland in the playing XI for the second Test, a move which surprised several including Ricky Ponting.
Opining that the conditions at Lord's were well suited for Boland to operate on, Ponting said:
“I was a little bit surprised. When I turned up here and looked at this Lord’s wicket with the overcast conditions that were expected for the first couple of days, I thought that those conditions would suit Boland down to the ground as well. So, I don’t if there's any sort of little niggle with Scott."
Ponting continued:
“To be honest with you, with Starc in this game so far, he has got the ball to swing a little bit, which is what they want to see from him. But all I'll say is I was surprised that they made the change.”
Starc took the wicket of Joe Root with the short ball ploy in the final session of the second day. The left-arm seamer has figures of 1-75 off 12 overs and has been the most expensive bowler for the visitors.