Ashes 2023: Ricky Ponting warns Ben Stokes' England before crunch series, suggests 'Bazball' could backfire

Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has warned England ahead of the upcoming Ashes and suggests that the Bazball could work against them. Ponting who is in England for the World Test Championship (WTC) reckons, England don’t have a plan B and could see Australia regain the Ashes yet again. According to Aussie legend, flat wickets coupled with shorter boundaries could spell trouble for Ben Stones’ men which could see Australia yet again have their hands on the prize asset.

Ponting lacks faith in England

“It's been refreshing to see England’s win-at-all-costs mentality, not caring about losing a game – or not putting that ahead of trying to win a game,” Ponting said while speaking to the ICC’s channel.

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“For that fact, I can't wait for the Ashes to start.

“I'm really intrigued to see what conditions England want to play that style of cricket. Because if they want the flatter wickets with the smaller boundaries, it might just backfire on their bowling group. That's the biggest thing for me,” the former Aussie captain added.

England have been well prepared for the Ashes and will look to regain the holy grail for the first time since 2015. The hosts will be favourites going into the contest having won 11 of the 13 matches played since Stokes took over the captaincy which was coupled with Brendon McCullum’s theory of a win-at-all-costs mentality.

England were beaten comprehensively 0-4 in the last Ashes of 2021-22 and were brought down to their knees. Joe Root’s side was not in great nick of form, which ultimately cost them a place in the final of the WTC despite 10 wins in their last 12 Test matches of the cycle.

ALSO READ |WTC Final: Ricky Ponting explains where India went wrong with their bowling plan in first innings

Schedule for Ashes

• First Test, Edgbaston, Birmingham June 16-20
• Second Test, Lord's, London June 28-July 2
• Third Test, Headingley, Leeds July 6-10
• Fourth Test, Old Trafford, Manchester July 19-23
• Fifth Test, The Oval, London, July 27-31

England squad for first two Ashes Tests

Ben Stokes (captain), Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.

Australia squad for first two Tests

Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

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