ADELAIDE: A downcast Ricky Ponting says he faces one of his greatest challenges as captain and batsman to get beleaguered Australia back into the Ashes series against England.
Among a myriad of Australian concerns is Ponting’s poor batting return with a first-ball duck and nine runs in this Test after 10 and 51 not out in Brisbane.
“It’s certainly a great challenge for me,” Ponting said. “Don’t worry about winning the games. I’ve got to make some runs, it’s as simple as that.
“To make nine runs in two innings on that wicket in this game is nowhere near good enough for me and my expectations are a lot higher than that.
The experienced skipper, who has lost two Ashes series as captain, conceded that England had “out-batted, out-bowled and out-fielded” Australia during the entire second Test.
Meanwhile, Ponting dropped out of the top 20 in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test batting rankings for the first time since 2001.
The 35-year-old Tasmanian, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, has dropped 12 places to occupy 25th spot in the latest edition of the rankings published on Tuesday.
