Ashes 2023: Grape attack from unruly crowd at The Oval leaves Ricky Ponting fuming
Ricky Ponting was left enraged after an unruly crowd launched hurled grapes towards him after the end of play on Day 1 of the ongoing 5th Test of The Ashes.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting found himself at the receiving end of an unpleasant incident as some spectators pelted grapes at him after the end of Day 1 of the ongoing 5th Test of the Ashes at The Oval on Thursday, July 27. Ponting, who was sharing his views on the day's play in an interaction on Sky Sports with host Ian Ward and Australia's off spinner Todd Murphy had to put up with the temper of a few unruly spectators who had come to watch the action unfold at The Oval mentioned a report in The Sun.
Ponting was left fuming by the act and was visibly enraged after a few grapes hurled towards him landed close to his feet. However, Ward, the host of the show tried to proceed with the segment while laughing it off, the two-time Australian World Cup-winning skipper wasn't ready to see the funny side of it and gave a death stare towards the section of the crowd that launched the fruit attack.
"I have just been hit by grapes. I wouldn’t mind finding out who were those actually," said Ponting after the incident.
Ponting, who is known for his expertise on the game and also commentates and coaches sides now that he is a retired cricketer has been fairly vocal about airing his opinions in the ongoing Ashes. He lashed out at English pacer Ollie Robinson after the latter mentioned how Aussies like Ponting and others would brutally sledge their English counterparts during their playing days.
Ponting launched a scathing attack on Robinson after he name-dropped the 48-year-old and mentioned that it's just water off a duck's back as far he was concerned. The Launceston-born was also critical of Joe Root after the English batter suggested that play can be extended till 10 PM during Engish summer if rain leads to a substantial loss of overs during a Test match.
"You can't just choose to change the laws of the game whenever you want to," Ponting mentioned on the ICC Review Podcast.
"I'm sure there have been times when England have wanted to not get back out there and play themselves. I mean, that's just a ridiculous thing to say," he added.