London, Aug 9 (IANS) Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes England’s prospects in this year’s all-important Ashes will depend heavily on whether their top-order can give them a strong start. England recently had a 2-2 series draw against India and will next play Tests when the opening Ashes Test begins on November 21 in Perth.

“I’m as Aussie as anyone, and I love watching the way they (England) play. The Aussies embraced it and learnt about it the last time they were here. They’ll have an understanding now of what is a slightly more refined version of what England started a few years ago,” Ponting was quoted as saying by The Times on Saturday.

“I think they can (bat aggressively in Australia), and they will definitely try. It’s the way they naturally play, and it’s the way the coaches and captain want them to play. It’s the way they need to play — it just sets up everything for England, putting immediate pressure back on the bowlers.”

“You (the fielding side) have to adapt really quickly. They probably hold the key in Australia. If they can bat really well at the top, and set things up, that will give them a good chance in the series,” he added.

He also believes England have recently shown the ability to adapt their ultra-attacking Bazball approach and avoid being one-dimensional. “When it first started, it looked like Joe (Root) got carried away a bit. He changed his game. He’s gone back to playing normally.”

“Ollie Pope is naturally aggressive and scores pretty quickly. Stokes might have the lowest strike rate of all the batters since it began (he does). (Ben) Duckett and (Zak) Crawley are the two leading the way. So there’s been some refinement, and against the best teams they needed it,” he said.

Ponting further said it is unclear what kind of pitches will be prepared for England in the upcoming Ashes. “It’ll be interesting to see which way we prepare our tracks. I don’t think the Aussies will be saying anything to the groundsmen. Certainly, throughout my time, I didn’t speak to the groundsman, and even my coaches didn’t speak to him.”

“They always expected them to prepare the best wicket they could… I don’t really know which way England want it. They probably play their best cricket when they’ve got flatter pitches, because that’s what they need for their batting, but in Australia they probably need something in the wickets to help their bowling,” he said.

Ponting signed off by hoping England get a good fast bowling attack for the five-match series in Australia. “England are praying they’ll have Archer and Wood fit. If they are, they’ll have a crack with both of them in Perth and Brisbane, and then try to mix and match them for the rest of the series.”

“Archer adds so much to their line-up, that bit of extra pace that lifts everyone’s energy. And he’s done well against Australia in the past, and so has Wood. If they get both of them right, the attack looks pretty strong. Gus Atkinson looked good, and he’ll bowl OK in Australia.”

–IANS

nr/bsk/