Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has urged Ben Stokes to lead by example and move up to first-drop after his comments aimed at the English dressing room. Stokes was highly-critical of his side after England’s eight-wicket defeat in the day-night Test.
And a number of England players are now under pressure to retain their place in the XI. One such batter under growing scrutiny is Ollie Pope. The No.3 has struggled in Australia this series failing to reach 50 in his four innings so far in the Ashes. Pope averages 18.71 in Australia across 14 innings.
Ricky Ponting (pictured left) feels Ben Stokes (pictured right) should move up the order and bat at No.3 in Adelaide. (Images Getty Images)
Other than Joe Root, the England batters have struggled so far in Perth and Brisbane with some fans calling for change to the batting line-up. This has seen Ponting echo calls from former England captain Michael Vaughan for Stokes to take it upon himself to move up the order. Stokes showed composure in England’s last innings having scored 50 off 152 balls.
The former Australian captain feels Stokes could lead by example and take on the important role. “You know, the more I have thought about it…if Stokes can play that way, and he is the one that does identify situations better than others, than batting at six is too low for him,” Ponting said on SEN Radio.
“I think he should be batting at No.3. I think he should be out there puffing the chest out as the captain and saying, ‘OK, I am going to stop this rot before it happens. I don’t want to be walking in when we’ve lost four quick wickets, I am going to do something about it.’ You can imagine him and Joe Root playing that way.”
Ricky Ponting has called for Ben Stokes (pictured) to move up the batting order.
Ponting claimed fixing the England batting line-up is one of the first things they need to fix heading into Adelaide. Jacob Bethel appears to be the batter next in line for England, but his returns on tour have not been good.
The batter has scored 3, 70, 44, 16, 19 and 71. Across 25 matches, Bethel is yet to score a maiden first-class century. He is hardly putting his hand up to face Australia’s elite bowling attack and with Pat Cummins expected back in Adelaide, more question marks are being asked of England’s depth.
Ben Stokes calls out teammates after 2-0 deficit
Cutting a frustrated figure after the Pink-ball Test defeat, Stokes sent a warning to the dressing room. “Teams that come to Australia can’t be soft or weak. There is no room for that in any dressing room I’m in charge of,” he said after the heavy loss in Brisbane.
“We pick people on ability and skill and we also pick people on character and mentality. There are a few things that need to be addressed on that.”
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Reporter Robert ‘Crash’ Craddock agreed with Ponting and felt the captain could move up the order. But he admitted it was interesting watching Stokes distance himself from the team with his comments.
“He’s become a very interesting study,” Craddock said on SEN Radio. “Because this is the first time in his three and a half year tenure (as captain) that he has distanced himself from the team and called them out. Normally, he puts an arm around their shoulders and says it’s alright, we’ll get through this together. But not this time. He had enough after Brisbane; he was really infuriated with his team.”