England have played fearless brand of cricket in the longest format since skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum joined forces last year. Before the 2023 Ashes series, there were plenty of discussions about whether England would continue with their ultra-aggressive approach against Australia – the reigning World Test Champions.
As it turned out, the Three Lions backed their words with actions. In fact, Stokes shocked one and all by declaring England’s first innings at 393/8 on Day 1 of the Ashes opener.
On the other hand, Pat Cummins has stuck to the traditional style to deliver positive results for Australia. The visitors won the first two Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s before losing the third game at Headingley.
Ahead of the fourth Test in Manchester, batting legend Ricky Ponting has weighed in on the captaincy styles of Stokes and Cummins.
"I think this has been one of the most tactical series that I could remember, because of the two different styles of play, probably two contrasting styles of leadership as well," Ponting said in 'The ICC Review'.
"Pat (Cummins) is more of an old-fashioned sort of Test match captain where he sort of lets sets fields and lets plans sort of unravel and is happy to do it over a long period of time, whereas Stokes is a bit the other way. He's sort of trying to make something happen every ball and therefore sometimes plans never really have a chance to eventuate," he added.
Pat Cummins has led the team brilliantly after being handed over the captaincy in 2021. He began his stint with a 4-0 Ashes triumph over England at home, followed by a series win in Pakistan and against West Indies and South Africa on home soil.
Australia also drew 1-1 with Sri Lanka away from home last year while his only series loss came against India earlier this year. However, he led Australia to WTC final win over India at The Oval last month.
"Look, Pat is still fairly young in the job. Let's not forget that he's only been doing it for a couple of years now and I'm sure he's learning along the way," Ponting said.
Australia lead the Ashes series 2-1 heading into the fourth Test, slated to get underway on July 19 at Old Trafford.
"I'm not going to question Pat at all. The fact that Australia are 2-1 up says he's done a good job to me.
"There'll always be little things in a game. When you lose, there are always little things in a game that people are happy to talk about.
"But at the end of the day, I think the tactics are better off waiting to see what the result is at the end of the series and then we'll be able to critique both captains on the result."
(With PTI Inputs)
