Ricky Ponting says bowling first call in 2005 Ashes Test in Birmingham 'hard to justify'

The Ashes 2005 series is widely acknowledged as one of the most remarkable and closely-fought Test battles in cricketing folklore. Under the leadership of Michael Vaughan, hosts England defied all odds to defeat a rampaging Australian unit, who were also ranked No.1 in the ICC Test rankings at the time. The host’s 2-1 win over Ricky Ponting and co. meant that England had regained the urn for the first time since the 1986-87 Australian summer.

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Ricky Ponting reveals his decision that led to the outcome of Ashes 2005

In the second Test of the Ashes 2005 campaign, England defeated Australia by just two runs in a nail-biting Edgbaston thriller in Birmingham. Prior to the match, Ricky Ponting had won the toss and controversially asked England to bat first in predominantly batting-friendly conditions, an event which completed 15 years precisely on Tuesday. In a recent interview with Cricket Australia, the former Australian captain stated that he still stands by his decision. Although, he admitted to finding it difficult to justify his call because of England’s exhilarating run-scoring on the opening day of the second Test.

Ricky Ponting said that he made the decision to bowl first at the toss only after much discussion with the team management prior to the commencement of the Birmingham Test proceedings. He said that he knew that Australian bowlers had a “real edge” over England batsmen in the series because of the first Test’s result. The two-time World Cup-winning captain added that the weather leading up to the second Test was “shocking”, which led the Edgbaston wicket to remain under the covers for a few days. Ricky Ponting mentioned that the preceding weather conditions was also one of the crucial factors behind his decision to bowl first.  

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Chronicling Ashes 2005, featuring headline acts from Shane Warne, Andrew Flintoff

Ricky Ponting’s decision immediately backfired as England scored 407 runs on Day 1, including 132 in the first session itself. Despite a remarkable spell of spin bowling from Shane Warne in England’s second innings, the Australians fell short of their 282-run target by two runs. The narrow win by Michael Vaughan and co. set a platform for their historic 2-1 victory at the 2005 biennial event.

Across the Ashes 2005 Tests, English middle-order batsman Kevin Pietersen emerged as the leading run-scorer with 473 runs. Ricky Ponting himself scored 359 runs in the series which included a match-saving 156 at Old Trafford. Spin wizard Shane Warne bagged 40 wickets to emerge as the most successful bowler from the two sides. Despite Kevin Pietersen’s heroics with the bat and Shane Warne’s 40 wickets, dynamic all-rounder Andrew Flintoff was awarded the Compton-Miller Medal for his 402-run tally and 24-wicket series haul.

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Image credits: Screenshot from ECB YouTube channel