Ricky Ponting rips into Joe Root’s Ashes leadership and hints at next England captain

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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has questioned Joe Root’s comments about England’s bowlers during the Ashes and said that as captain of the touring side the onus is on him to make changes when needed.

After a nine-wicket thrashing in the Brisbane opener, England lost the second Test in Adelaide by 275 runs on Monday to trail the five-match series 2-0.

Root said after the pink ball Test that his bowlers needed to bowl fuller and “be a bit braver”.

“I nearly fell off my seat when I heard that,” Ponting told a Cricket Australia website. “Whose job is it then to make them change? Why are you captain then? If you can’t influence your bowlers on what length to bowl, what are you doing on the field?

“Joe Root can come back and say whatever he likes but if you’re captain, you’ve got to be able to sense when your bowlers aren’t bowling where you want them to. That’s what captaincy is all about.”

Ponting also suggested that England’s bowling attack was at its best when Root left the field due to a groin injury and the captaincy was briefly passed over to Ben Stokes.

“The interesting thing for me is the only time they bowled full in the game was when Joe Root wasn’t on the ground,” Ponting said. “The start of day four when they had a meeting on the ground before play started, Stokes took over the captaincy, and that was the only time in the game they pitched the ball up.”

Australia, meanwhile, have called up uncapped seamer Scott Boland for the Boxing Day Test against England as cover for a bowling attack showing signs of wear and tear.

The decision to add the 32-year-old to the squad suggests the management have some fitness concerns over their pace group after going 2-0 up in the Ashes in Adelaide this week.

Captain Pat Cummins is set to return after serving a seven-day isolation for a close contact with Covid-19 but Josh Hazlewood is in doubt as he continues to recover from a side injury, Mitchell Starc appeared to be in discomfort at times in the last couple of days at Adelaide Oval and all-rounder Cameron Green is still being treated carefully.

The third Ashes Test will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from 26-30 December.