"It’s actually a question I can’t answer"- Former Australian greats baffled by Pat Cummins' tactics on Day 2 of 4th Ashes Test
Former Australian cricketers Ricky Ponting and Mark Waugh were a bit perplexed by some of the field placements and bowling changes made by Australian captain Pat Cummins on Day 2 of the ongoing Ashes Test at Old Trafford, Manchester.
England managed to score a staggering 384 runs in the day for the loss of just four wickets, with Zak Crawley smashing a sensational 189 and carting the Australian bowlers to all parts of the ground. Cummins seemed to be running out of ideas to just stop the carnage that the hosts had unleashed on his team.
Here's what Ricky Ponting told Sky Sports Cricket about Pat Cummins not bringing himself on into the attack earlier and starting with Josh Hazlewood instead:
"It’s actually a question I can’t answer. He has gone too long getting himself into the attack as well. There has been enough happening. A few gone past the outside of the bat. Edges that haven’t quite carried."
Mark Waugh expressed his frustration through a tweet as he felt the field placements were just too defensive despite the Australian pacers making things happen with movement off the pitch.
“I just can’t get my head around these Aust field placements on the off side,” Mark Waugh wrote on Twitter. Tall, good pace, fast bowlers often hitting the splice of the bat with no fieldsmen near the bat between 4/5th slip and mid-off.”
Daniel Vettori defends Pat Cummins' tactics
Former New Zealand skipper and Australia's assistant coach Daniel Vettori came in support of Pat Cummins after the end of play on Day 2. Speaking to the reporters, Vettori explained why it was just about England responding to whatever Australia threw at them and not about whether Cummins was at fault.
On this, he stated:
"Throughout the whole series, Pat has been exceptional. He likes advice, he likes to talk to people around the group. It was just one of those sessions where we pushed exceptionally hard and England responded. The amount of boundaries that they were able to score even with the field set the way they were, we just weren‘t able to mitigate that run rate at all. I think he has done an exceptional job all through the series."
England will look to be ultra-aggressive even on Day 3 with the forecast not that great for the remainder of the Test. Australia will know that just a draw would be enough for them to retain the Ashes.