ENG vs AUS 2018: Ricky Ponting Wants Big Score from Australian Batsmen

Former Australia skipper, Ricky Ponting wants the top-order to deliver big after his side went down to England in the first match of the five-match One-Day International series.

Meanwhile, England defeated the Aussies by three-wickets at Oval on Wednesday (June 13). Although England stuttered while chasing, Australia were always in trouble after posting 214 runs. Further, they struggled against spin with Moeen Ali and Rashid sharing five wickets among themselves.

Glenn Maxwell (62) and Ashton Agar (40) tried to repair the damage, but their sixth-wicket stand of 84 couldn’t change the course of the game.

Ponting, however, has recently joined Australia’s backroom staff for this tour. Reflecting on last games performance, Ponting said the top-order needs to take more responsibility.

“It highlighted again the importance of our top-order batsman taking responsibility and getting some big runs,” he said.

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After losing Travis Head early, Aaron Finch and Shaun Marsh added 40 but Ali dismissed both of them.

“We lost an early wicket but I thought Marsh and Finch’s partnership looked really promising. But both of them getting out in successive overs to Moeen Ali, and all of a sudden we are behind the eight ball,” explained Ponting.

Moreover, the champion batsmen insisted the players need to work out how they can improve on a daily basis. Nevertheless, Ponting was confident of improvement before the fifth ODI in Manchester on June 24.

“It didn’t happen (Wednesday) but there is certainly enough skill and talent there to push on and win some games through the remainder of this series,” he said.

In conclusion, Ponting added he loves the dual responsibility on this tour. He is currently combining his coaching role with a prior commitment to commentate on the series for television.

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