They got carried away a bit: Ponting on England’s ‘Bazball’ approach

Ricky Ponting said England got carried away with their 'Bazball' approach, not acting smart in crucial moments. Despite dominating parts of the game, they lost the Ashes 2-1. Ponting believes they should focus on winning, balancing entertainment with results. He praised their talent, noting their first drawn game in 17 Tests. Fans have enjoyed their style, but results will be remembered more. Final Test at The Oval begins Thurs.

Australian batting great and former captain Ricky Ponting delivered his verdict on England's 'Bazball' approach to cricket, saying that while it resulted in some entertaining action, the hosts got carried away and did not act smart while making some of their decisions.

Australia retained the Ashes with an unassailable 2-1 series lead on Sunday after the Manchester Test was drawn following a washed-out fifth day. It was a blow for England who were primed to draw level in the series, having fought back from 2-0 down. 

However, England came in for criticism earlier in the series, after captain Ben Stokes’ decision to declare despite being on top on the first day in the first Test at Edgbaston, leading to Australia finding a way back to win the Test.

Their aggressive approach to Australia’s short-ball tactic in the Lord’s Test, when they conceded a lead of 91 in the first innings, was also criticised. Ponting, speaking on The ICC Review the day after the fourth Test, said England should have played smart cricket in those crucial moments. 

"Some of those decisions — the Edgbaston declaration, Lord's first innings batting — I think they got a little bit carried away with it then," he said as quoted by ICC. 

"One thing that hasn't probably been spoken enough about though is … they have spoken about the right time and the right place to play that brand of cricket and they want to have aggressive cricketers and attacking cricketers, but they want to have smart cricketers as well."

"I think a couple of times they just probably have not been as smart as they could have been. Day two at Manchester was just unbelievable cricket. Zak Crawley, 189 off 182 balls, and Joe Root, almost a run-a-ball, what would he make, 80-odd. It was some of the most entertaining and demoralising Test match cricket that I have probably ever seen."