Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting has said he enjoyed the England tour despite it being a tough one.
Ponting described the tour as one of the most enjoyable visits for him despite suffering a shocking defeat in the Ashes.
“This has probably been, if not the most enjoyable, one of the most enjoyable tours I’ve been on — and we lost a series as well,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Ponting, as saying.
“I’ve enjoyed it from the start until the last ball was bowled. There was a lot made of the booing stuff, and all that took place early on. That wasn’t a big deal as far as I was concerned. I’ve enjoyed the contest that was on the field with England,” Punter added.
Comparing the 2005 Ashes defeat with the recent drubbing, Ponting said the humiliation in 2005 was more shattering, simply because of the fact that at that time the squad was pretty strong when compared to the current team, which has plenty of new comers.
“This was different to 2005 — which was really shattering. That side we had, to lose that series was really shattering. This time, yes, I was very disappointed we weren’t good enough but this should really hold us in good stead for the future,” said Ponting.
Looking back at the Ashes, he said it was the batting that let the side down.
“Our batting was the most experienced fact of our team play and it was our batting, on a couple of occasions, that let us down,” Punter stressed.
He said players lacked experience and failed to acclimatise to English conditions.
“We weren’t ready for the conditions. The key to consistency is a bit of knowledge, some experience. That lack of knowledge and experience brought us undone in a couple of sessions, getting bowled out cheaply when we were 0-80 and 0-130,” he said.
