England’s Ashes tour could end in a whitewash if they cannot bounce back from their crushing loss in the first test, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said on Saturday, adding that the conditions going forward would be better suited to the hosts.
Australia are 1-0 up in the series after an emphatic nine-wicket victory at the Gabba in Brisbane, where England lost eight wickets in a stunning batting collapse on day four.
England have not won a test in Australia since the 2010-11 series, when they triumphed 3-1.
The pink ball test in Adelaide begins on Thursday and Ponting believes a similar outcome to Australia’s 5-0 victory in 2006-07 could be on the cards after England failed to take advantage of favourable conditions.
“The conditions are only going to get better for Australia. Those conditions (in Brisbane) were very English-like… They’re probably not going to get that much movement anywhere else for the entire series,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.
“We saw them bowl really well on the last tour in Adelaide under lights where everything just fell perfectly into place – Australia had to bat for a session, the lights were on, brand new ball, clear night.
“We’ve also been to Adelaide at other times when the pink ball has done nothing, whether it’s a new ball or not. If they don’t win in Adelaide then there could be shades of ’06-’07.”
Ponting criticised England’s decision to rest both James Anderson and Stuart Broad – who have taken 1,156 test wickets between them – saying the visitors had got their selection wrong.
Ben Stokes’s fitness will also be a concern for England ahead of the Adelaide test after the all-rounder struggled with a knee injury in Brisbane.
“I can’t see why they would have left (Broad and Anderson) out if they weren’t just getting them prepped and ready for Adelaide. I’m still staggered to this point now… One of those two had to play,” Ponting said.
“It might be that they’re only going to play one of Broad or Anderson in Adelaide. A lot of it might just depend on how (Ben) Stokes pulls up between now and the start of the Adelaide game.”
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
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