Ponting puts forward Australia top order for Ashes
ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting has named the top three he believes will be named by Australia come the first Ashes Test against England later this year, and puts forward his advice for a struggling opener.
Despite a 3-0 Test series win away in the Caribbean, Australia’s batters did little to silence the critics who flagged the side’s frailties earlier in the year, instead leaning on the side’s irrepressible bowling attack.
Watching on as the likes of Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Josh Hazlewood dismantled the West Indies for just 27 in the final innings to cap off a barnstorming tour with the ball, the Australians only passed 300 once in the series, with the bulk of the runs made further down the order.
Having kept a close eye on the series, Ponting put forward the top three he believes will front up for the first Ashes Test and in Australia’s first home stand of the new World Test Championship cycle.
He also said he’d “back in” young opener Sam Konstas, who has been the subject of great debate among Australian cricket fans and media.
“The (batters) that they're talking about the last couple of weeks in particular, have been (Sam) Konstas and (Usman) Khawaja, and then there was some talk about Cameron Green, if he was a long term No.3 three or not,” Ponting began, in conversation with Sanjana Ganesan in the latest edition of The ICC Review.
“(Green’s) second innings in the West Indies (in the last Test) might have just put some of that to bed. As tough as those conditions were to bat for as long as he did in trying conditions he might have silenced a few of those critics.
“I think with where they're at, I think the Ashes line-up is going to be like it is right now. I think that's what they're going to be starting with, and you keep your fingers crossed and hope that those guys can get the job done at the start.”
Ponting acknowledges the spots are far from locked in, though with just an Australia A series against Sri Lanka and four Sheffield Shield rounds before the pivotal series, there is limited opportunity for others to squeeze their way in.
“Nathan McSweeney, who started the Australian summer against India last year, he's made some runs in one of those (Sri Lanka A) games. Matt Renshaw has made a lot of runs in the white ball format as well in those games.”
“I don't think there's going to be anyone else outside of the names that we've heard for the last couple of years that will be spoken about again. McSweeney is the obvious one to go back to sooner rather than later.
“If they (Australia) get two or three Test matches into the Ashes and things aren't going well, the longer you go in a series, obviously the harder it is to change, and it's not like they're jumping up and down, batsmen left, right and centre making runs all over the place either.
“The start of the Sheffield Shield season will be an interesting one for some of those names that I've mentioned there, and I'll throw another name in that I think is a highly talented Australian batsman, that's Jason Sangha.
“I think he's someone whose name will probably come up at some stage as well, but there's just not many games now, not many opportunities to be able to get yourself and get your name up in front of the selectors.”
Much of the attention has been focused on opener Konstas, who outside of a stunning Test debut half-century against Jasprit Bumrah and India’s bowling attack in last year’s Boxing Day Test, has struggled for runs.
The teenager averages just 16.30 in his first 10 Test innings, however Ponting believes it has been a tougher initiation than it perhaps could have been.
“I read some really interesting quotes or a story written by (Australian journalist) Robert Craddock about Sam Konstas, how the Australians sort of tried to protect him from what they thought was going to be a really difficult tour of Sri Lanka.
“They left him out there hoping to bring him in in the Caribbean where things might have been a little bit easier. Well, it's been the opposite. It's been the exact opposite of that.
“As it turned out, the attack and the wickets in Sri Lanka were good batting wickets and a really poor attack. And the wickets that we've got in the Caribbean have been hard for everybody to bat on. I look at that last result where the West Indies have been bowled out for 27.
“That's just not down to high quality bowling. That's down to the surface and the ball and all sorts of things.”
In Konstas’ bid to build his game, Ponting has noticed technical corrections, which could lead to long-term benefits, albeit sacrificing short-term success.
“Sam's always going to have, like every batter that is finding their way at international level, people sit back and try and pick holes in your technique when you're trying to find your own way at international level.
“Now he's always been someone that's been talked about potentially having an issue with (the ball) coming back in, particularly on the front foot, and we saw in the Caribbean a couple of instances there of lbws and chop-ons but we also saw the other side of it where when he tries to correct that and probably stay a little bit more leg-side of the ball. That's when the outside edge of the bat comes into play and he nicked a couple as well like he did in the second innings of that first Test match.
“I'm not going to make any really harsh judgment calls on Sam yet because it was hard work for every batter in that series, there's no doubt about it.
“(I) think they have to stick with him for a period of time and help him work through these deficiencies that he might have or might not have.
“If we get him back onto some flatter wickets at the start of the Australian summer and some Sheffield Shield matches under his belt, maybe he's got a great chance there to get some confidence back and get some runs under his belt. I'll back him in.”
Ponting himself is no stranger to being thrown in the deep end at the highest level, making his Test debut as a 20-year-old, and only compiling the one century in the format in his first two years in the Baggy Green.
With that perspective, the ICC Hall of Famer provided invaluable insight.
“The unfortunate thing about Test cricket and when you're a young bloke trying to find your feet is quite often you have to work it out for yourself because it's out in the middle,” said Ponting.
“You can practice as much as you want, you can do things in the nets as much as you want, you can seek as much advice as you want, but you've got to find a method and something that works for you out in the middle.
“Now that might be technique-wise, it might be the way you approach it, it might be the mental side of your game, but there's no greater experience than being out there and doing it.”
“It's trial and error until you actually find the exact right remedy that works for you and the only way you can do that is by being out in the middle and spending some time there. I mean for Sam, I think he's probably got that many people wanting to give him advice right now.”
“I'd be having one or two people that I'm really close to and asking for their advice and no more, and trying to keep all the noise away. It's easy to say that with all the media outlets and social media things that are out there now, it really is hard just to lie low and not listen to any of the stuff that's happening around you.
“But if I was him, I'd be trying to do that and I'd be keeping the preparation side and practice side as simple as possible.”
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