Ricky Ponting, the outgoing Australian batsman, has expressed that Curtly Ambrose and Wasim Akram were two of the most difficult bowlers he faced in his long international career.
The former Australia captain announced his retirement from Test cricket before the start of the third Test of the three-match series against South Africa at Perth, after a run of poor performances in the competition. The Tasmanian had already called it a day from the limited-over sport earlier this year.
The 37-year-old cricketer could not make an impression in his last Test as well, scoring just 12 runs in the two innings, failing to help his team save the series, losing the last match by a massive margin of 309 runs.
While talking to the media representatives after the match, the legendary batsman expressed that Ambrose and Akram were the toughest bowlers for him to cope with. Ponting expressed that the lanky West Indian had an immaculate line and length, which made him a great bowler.
“I think Curtly Ambrose and Wasim Akram were probably the two outstanding quicks that I faced, and for different reasons. Ambrose for his ability to just make you feel like you couldn’t score off him for long periods of time, never felt like he was going to bowl you a bad ball,” said the former Aussie skipper.
With more than 27 thousand runs at the highest stage of the game and 71 centuries, Ponting is surely one of the greatest batsmen of all times. On top of that, the Tasmanian is considered as one of the most successful international captains, having led the Kangaroos to consecutive World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
Ponting also commented on the former Pakistan captain, Wasim Akram, and said that the left-armer was a phenomenal bowler because of his ability to bowl magical deliveries at any stage of an innings.
“Akram for the exact opposite, you could get a few runs off him, but you just knew there was an unplayable ball around the corner, be it with an old ball or with a new ball,” the great cricketer added.
