Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has predicted a big change in England's playing XI for the Headingley Test starting from July 6. The hosts England are 0-2 down in the five-match Ashes series at the moment and will have to win the third Test to have any chance of regaining the Ashes. England have already announced the squad for the third Test while leaving out Matthew Potts and Rehan Ahmed and haven't made any major changes.
But Ponting reckons James Anderson should make way after not looking at his best so far in this series. In two Test matches, he has only picked 3 wickets after sending down a massive 77 overs. Perhaps, the conditions were perfect for him on the cloudy opening morning at Lord's when Ben Stokes won the toss and invited Australia to bat first. But the veteran was not at his best at all spraying around in line and length.
"He (Anderson) looked like the most disappointing bowler for England so far. What you expect from James Anderson is when he's got that new ball in his hand, he's taking early wickets, he's moving the ball, and he's not going for any runs. We haven't seen that in the series so far. And that's not a direct criticism of James Anderson. He's been one of the all time greats of the game, his longevity and his wicket-taking ability, but if I was looking at the bowlers I saw last week, I think he's the one that's looked to have the least amount of penetration," Ponting said on The ICC Review.
Meanwhile, England have the pace of Mark Wood waiting in the wings while they also have the option to recall Moeen Ali into the playing XI. However, the off-spinner's finger injury status is not known yet. Ponting also feels that Josh Tongue deserves to stay in the playing XI for the kind of impact he made at Lord's.
Tongue, playing only in his second Test, picked five wickets overall including that of Steve Smith and David Warner. "From what I saw last week, I thought he (Tongue) was the standard of their fast bowlers," Ponting added.
