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'It's going to come down to the attitude': Ponting weighs in on whether 'Bazball' can help England snatch back the Ashes
Speaking on The ICC review Show, Ricky Ponting stated 'Bazball' will depend on the attitude of players in the England cricket team.
With much of English red-ball cricket geared towards making sure the team can perform its best at the Ashes, it is no surprise that their latest innovation — the aggressive concept of ‘Bazball’ under coach Brendon McCullum — has everyone wondering if it will help England take back the Ashes in 2023, after a humiliating 4-0 loss earlier this year. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who oversaw a period of total dominance for the Aussies throughout the 2000s, provided his take on whether Bazball will continue its momentum and help England under Ben Stokes rediscover their mojo against their fiercest rivals next summer.
Speaking on The ICC Review show, Ponting was asked whether Bazball was a sustainable route to success for England’s red-ball teams. Ponting was optimistic, but also cautious about how Bazball might change if England find themselves behind in a match. "It comes down to skill, obviously, but it also comes down to attitude," said Ponting. "If these current players are willing to play the same way all the time, regardless of the scenario, regardless of the situation, then it is sustainable.”
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"I think if you look back through probably the best teams in cricket’s history, I think they have been able to keep pretty much a good, solid core group of players together,” continued Ponting. “And what England have got right now is a good balance of youth and experience. Some of the younger guys they have brought into that team for that last series obviously didn't have the mental scars that some of the older other guys might have had.”
McCullum has already tried to innovate with the batting order, asking Ollie Pope to bat at number 3, far higher than his regular position, and has so far reaped the rewards for it. This allows players such as Stokes and Jonny Bairstow more freedom in lower middle order to be attacking and to try and dominate the bowlers with the older ball.
"The emergence of Jonny Bairstow in the middle order and Joe Root continuing on what has been an amazing 18 months, it’s going to come down to the attitude. The players are not going to lose their skills in the next few months, but if they just happen to have a few bad games where this really positive, aggressive approach doesn’t pay off, are they going to be strong enough mentally to keep playing that way?” finished Ponting. So far, England are 4 out of 4 wins under McCullum’s leadership, clean-sweeping New Zealand and winning the rescheduled one-off Test against India. It is a strong start to life under the Kiwi, but with a series against in-form South Africa on the horizon, their fortitude will be put under stress.
Ponting is currently the coach of the Delhi Capitals, and has been the leader of their emergence as a perennial force in the IPL himself. He says he was informed by McCullum of his decision to take the England job during that tournament, where McCullum was part of the KKR staff. h"It might be the Australian coming out in me, but I haven’t reached out to him to say congratulations," Ponting joked. "It’s just a little bit hard for me to sit back and watch England play so well. When the Ashes starts I’m sure there’ll be a bit of banter starting between him and I and I will start it up then."
