The Ashes have well and truly begun. On-field drama, sledges, swearing and yes, cricket too, the English summer has got off to a flying start. Following the first Test at Edgbaston that Australia won by two wickets, England seamer Ollie Robinson was asked about his ‘over-the-top’ reaction after dismissing Usman Khawaja in the first innings, where he visibly abused him. Robinson, in his reply, quoted Ricky Ponting’s example, which didn’t sit well with the former Australian captain.
On day three of the first Test, Robinson clean bowled Khawaja on 141 on a Yorker, and was heard using cuss words against him as part of the celebration.
Though during the game, Ponting remained tight-lipped while during commentary for Sky Sports, the batting great came down hard on the bowler and the English team in his ICC Review Podcast on Wednesday.
Ponting said this new-looking English team is yet to get the taste of what it is about playing against the mighty Aussies in an Ashes series and said if Robinson hasn’t learned from his lessons yet, he surely is a slow learner.
“As I said after Ollie Robinson said what he said, this England cricket team hasn’t played against Australia, and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about,” Ponting said. “And if Robinson hasn’t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner.”
‘Even Ponting did that before…’
Following day three play, Robinson, in a tensed presser said he ‘doesn’t care’ on how his reaction is perceived by the Australian, and even went onto mention Ricky Ponting’s name in it, saying, “We’ve all seen Ricky Ponting, [and] other Aussies do the same to us. Just because the shoe is on the other foot, it’s not received well.”
Reverting to this, Ponting said it was unusual from Robinson to bring his name like that, but since he had, he would learn quickly on why this shouldn’t happen again.
“Some of the things he had to say – I mean he even brought my name into it, which I felt was a little bit unusual,” Ponting said. “But for me, it’s water off a duck’s back. If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he’s worried about what I did 15 years ago.
Ponting concluded saying if the English players were to talk about Australians in an Ashes, they must be backing that with the skill-set.
“He’ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills,” Ponting added.
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