Hamilton, April 01: With a convincing win against the Black Caps in the just-concluded Test series, Australian captain Ricky Ponting was convinced that his team was capable of toppling England in their own den, and has warned that there won’t be excuses for another failure in the Ashes, starting later this year.
”We can’t be any better placed at the moment,” said Ponting.
”We have two Tests to play in England (against Pakistan in July), then it’s straight into it (the Ashes).
”There will be no excuses from where we are sitting.
”We’ve done everything we would have liked (this summer), there’s never been a game that has dragged on.
”When there’s been big moments, we’ve stepped in and got the job done.
”I know this current group of players can put up a very good show in the Ashes,” the Australian skipper told mediapersons after his side won the second Test at the Seddon Park here.
After belting the West Indies 2-0 and Pakistan 3-0 in the Test series, the Australians wrapped up their 2009-10 campaign with a 176-run win against the Black Caps in the second Test to sweep the trans-Tasman series 2-0.
Ponting further admitted that Australia looked vulnerable after surrendering the Ashes, last August.
But the arrival of several youngsters in the Australian side including the pace duo of Doug Bollinger and Ryan Harris, the opening combination of Shane Watson and Simon Katich, spinner Nathan Hauritz’s development and Australia’s ability to win clutch moments has firmed Ponting’s belief that this side was superior to the one that fell to England.
”The summer has been really good,” he said.
”There were probably some question marks over our Test cricket before the summer started, being a little bit inconsistent through the Ashes series and not being able to nail the crucial moments.
”If anything this year, we’ve probably gone the other way.
”When we’ve had opposition teams down we’ve stayed on top.
”If anything we’ve gotten better and stronger as a group as the year has gone on,” the 35-year-old said.
——–Agencies