2nd Ashes Test: England should have picked Mark Wood instead of Chris Woakes, says Ricky Ponting

England should have picked Mark Wood instead of Chris Woakes for the second Ashes Test, former Australian captain Ricky Pontig said. The legendary Aussie batsman criticized England’s selection for the pick ball Test in Adelaide. Australia defeated England by nine wickets in the first Test. English bowlers had a tough match in Brisbane as they were thrashed all over the park by the Aussie batsman. Therefore James Anderson and Stuart Broad were brought in for Wood and Jack Leach.

Meanwhile dropping Wood wasn’t  a good decision according to Ponting as the pacer has got far more variations and is one of the quickest bowlers in world cricket. In the absence of Wood, Stokes has been assigned the duty to bowl the bouncers and back-of-the length deliveries.

Stokes, who is coming back from an injury and break, struggled with his fitness in the first Test, therefore asking the all-rounder to bowl the extra effort deliveries could take a toll on his body. Moreover the 30-year-old is more of a seam bowler who likes to pitch the ball up.

“It looked to me as if (Ben) Stokes was given one job, to run in and bowl bouncers ball after ball,” Ponting told cricket.com.au.

“When he finally got the chance to bowl at a new batsman and pitch the ball, he got a wicket second ball to (Cameron) Green.

Wood would have given them a lot more variation in their attack: Ponting

“Woakes was ineffective again I’m not sure why they bothered picking him in Adelaide when they’ve got Wood there.

“To me Wood would have given them a lot more variation in their attack and then Stokes could have pitched it up and bowled like a normal seamer, which he’s good at, and Wood could have taken the role Stokes had.”

Australia made a very good start to the second Test, declaring at 473/9. Opener David Warner hit 93 while Marnus Labuschagne scored his 6th century (103)   before Steve Smith got out for a well made 95.

Australia declare after some fireworks from the lower-order ?

Can England survive the tricky period before stumps?

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English bowlers struggled to cause any sorts of problems to the Aussie batsman. Although Broad gave a good start to the visitors by dismissing Marcus Harris early in the match, Australia batted pretty well to post a very good total.

“Apart from the short-ball plan Stokes executed (on the first day), England didn’t seem to have much of a plan after that,” Ponting said.

“It was run in and bowl back-of-a-length and wait for the Aussies to make mistakes.

“Well, when you’re bowling to two of the top three batsmen in the world, they’re not going to make mistakes. You’ve got to find a way to get them out and change things up.”

Wood is someone who can consistently bowl at over 140kph and occasionally touch the 150kph-mark. He is not a very tall guy but is a skiddy bowler who can surprise the batsman with the ball coming in.

Having a genuine fast bowler is handy on any surface, in Australia where the pitches offer a lot to the quick bowlers he could have been a lethal weapon.