Two-fierce rivals England and Australia played down a jaw-dropping Ashes series with the Aussies retaining the prestigious urn. Pat Cummins' Australia and Ben Stokes-led England took centerstage in the opening series of the new World Test Championship 2023-25 after the Aussies won the previous edition. The high-octane series was the talk of the town for more than a month. There was a lot of talk around how England's aggressive approach dubbed as 'Bazball' would work against the mighty Test champions Australia.
The Aussies managed to edge past England in the first two Tests but England made a raring comeback in the third to end the series 2-2. Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting has lauded England's aggressive approach, citing that the Aussies were made to scratch their heads. "The two contrasting styles of play were great to sit back and watch. There was a lot of talk about Bazball and how England would approach it, and would that style stand up against the quality of the Australian attack. It probably had some of the Australian players, coaches and the captain at different times scratching their heads as to how they were going to combat it," Ponting told SEN Radio.
2-2 slightly biased result: Ponting
Ricky Ponting stated that 2-2 was a slightly biased result, highlighting that the ball change shouldn't have been done. "I think the 2-2 result, albeit probably slightly biased with a bit of controversy in that last Test with the ball changed, the way that it was, that gifted England some conditions they probably shouldn't have got. "I think the level of cricket played across the series, the 2-2 result was probably fair," he added.
Notably, Pat Cummins headed his team well and played all five Ashes Tests and the World Test Championship final in a period of less than two months. Ponting praised the skipper. "As the series wore on, Cummo (Cummins) was probably the pick again. But, Starcy (Mitchell Starc) was outstanding. There were some questions about whether Pat could get through those six Tests and keep his intensity up. As it went on, it felt to me like they could have brought (Michael) Neser in at some stage in the right conditions. But I think what they did selection-wise was right," he said.
