Legendary Australian skipper Ricky Ponting backs veteran England pacer James Anderson to find his rhythm back in the coming days of the high-octane Ashes series. The 40-year-old could not make an impact for his team so far, finding it difficult to pick up wickets against the high-quality Australian batters.
Just before the start of the series, James Anderson picked up the injury during the county championship while bowling on the opening day of Lancashire’s clash against Somerset, as he could not find his usual best after returning from the injury.
Speaking on the ICC Review, Ricky Ponting backs the England pacer to come good against the Baggy Green, as he has been a champion player for the England side in the longer format of the game and reckons that the England veteran himself was not his best in this Ashes series.
“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,” Ricky Ponting said.
The right-arm pacer failed to make much of an impact in the series, as he picked up only 2 wickets in the three innings for his side. In the ongoing second test in Lord’s, the right-arm pacer picked up only one wicket on the conditions that helped the bowlers.
I Was Surprised That They Made The Change – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting said that he was little surprised by the exclusion of Scott Boland from the playing 11 in favour of Mitchell Starc, as he feels that conditions in the Lord’s would have favoured Boland and reckons that the Australian team would expect the Left arm pacer to swing in the initial over to bring in the breakthroughs for the Baggy Greens with the new ball.
“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.”
“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,” Ricky Ponting added.
England batters took on Mitchell Starc in the initial overs of the game, as the Left arm pacer could not control run flow in the initial overs, but came back stronger to pick the important wicket of Joe Root but conceded runs at an economy rate of 6.25 against the attacking England batters.