Dubai: Pop the Ashes question to someone like Ricky Ponting, and the true-blue Aussie in him comes out immediately. “We should be able to beat England comfortably, though personally I would like to see a closely fought series,” the former Australian captain said.
Speaking to Gulf News in an exclusive interview from India, Ponting felt the current Australian unit is an “extremely strong one” and should be able to win despite playing the away series. “Look at the pace attack with (Mitchell) Johnson, Ryan Harris coming back and then there are the likes of Siddle, Cummins,” he said, adding that the Australian cricket is at the pink of health now.
“I think it will be another couple of years before we can realise the enormity of what the players achieved in the last World Cup and it should be no different in the Ashes.”
Will it any easier for his team to take on England, unsettled as they are after the fiasco over Kevin Pietersen? Ponting said with a chuckle: “It’s their problem and they will have to deal with it. Initially, they wanted to go with him but now the question of trust factor has come up. At the end of the day, he’s still a great player.”
Asked to comment on the growth Steve Smith as the future helmsman of Australian cricket, Ponting said: “I was fortunate enough to captain him in 2011 World Cup and realised that he is a very talented individual and his growth had been amazing. He has had a great year with the bat during which he scored 700-plus runs against India alone.
“We now know the future of Australian cricket is in very good hands. Of course, Michael Clarke should still be around for another couple of years but then Smith can take it forward,” he added.
