Ricky Ponting makes million-dollar remark on England's 'Brumbrella' tactic, Ben Stokes' captaincy in 1st Ashes Test

Ponting had his own thoughts about the ‘Brumbrella’ and Stokes’s captaincy, sharing his appreciation of the out-of-the-box thinking that dislodged Khawaja

Day 3 of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston was heavily curtailed due to rain playing spoilsport in Birmingham, but even the singular session’s worth of play was enough to set up a dramatic last two days for the Test. It became an engrossing tactical battle, with England and captain Ben Stokes’s strategies with the ball showing that ‘Bazball’ isn’t restricted to just the bat.

Ricky Ponting makes his assessment on Ben Stokes' captaincy

Usman Khawaja had been Australia’s most successful batter on day 2, looking secure and scoring a century to carry his bat into day 3. Stokes tried everything in the book to try and dismiss the batter, changing fields frequently. Ultimately, this resulted in a very strange-looking field setting for the opener: no slip cordon with Ollie Robinson bowling, but six players in catching position close to the bat, tempting Khawaja to go aggressive. It worked immediately: Khawaja stepped out to try and pierce the ‘Brumbrella’, as it is being called, and yorked himself in the process. He was batting well on 141, but the tactics were psychological as much as anything, and earned England their rewards.

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting had his own thoughts about the ‘Brumbrella’ and Stokes’s captaincy, sharing his appreciation of the out-of-the-box thinking that dislodged Khawaja and allowed England to carry a narrow first-innings lead after Australia seemed to be in the driver’s seat.

Speaking to the ICC, Ponting said “I don't think I've ever seen a field like that in Test cricket before. There was just an umbrella of fielders around in front of the batsman's face. And it was all about bowling a couple of slower balls and being able to bowl a yorker. And sure enough, Khawaja used his feet, gave himself some room, gave up his stumps, and the yorker knocked his off stump out of the ground.”

"It's fantastic stuff,” continued Ponting, complimenting the thinking by England. “It's really refreshing for the Test game to see a team play this way and a captain happy to try everything he possibly can.”

Ponting, who along with Steve Waugh oversaw the dominant Australian Test team of the 1990s and 2000s, was full of praise for the way Stokes handled his captaincy duties on a flat and lifeless Edgbaston pitch to try and find purchase. “It's hard to keep up with them all, he's making a change almost every ball, which is great, it's proactive captaincy,” said the Aussie great. “He's always trying to move the game forward, he's looking at any little way that he possibly can to pick up a wicket and change the momentum of the game.”

Australia looked ready to establish a strong first innings lead when Khawaja and Carey came out to bat on day 3, but England were ready with potent questions to ask them. Broad and Robinson picked three wickets each as Australia went from 338-5 to 386 all-out. Stokes had already shown his experimentation, bringing on Harry Brook for spells against Steve Smith to try and bother him with outswingers.

England’s tactics put them ahead, but the rain in the air gave better bowling conditions to the Aussies when the hosts sent out their openers. Both Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett fell cheaply, leaving England 28/2 before rain forced day’s play to be called off. Both Joe Root and Ollie Pope will enter the crease batting on 0. Day 4 will be significant, as England will try to rack up as many runs as possible and as quickly as they can before trying to bowl out Australia on day 5. The first Test match is sure to be a blockbuster in Birmingham.