Ricky Ponting reveals tough selection calls for Australia's Ashes squad

New Delhi [India], October 22 (ANI): Former Australian captain and legendary batter Ricky Ponting has revealed the tough selection calls Australia must make for the upcoming Ashes series and what England needs to do well to ensure they are competitive.

The focus of the cricket world will be on Australia from November 21 for the five-match Ashes series between the arch-rivals, which will play a significant role in shaping the ICC World Test Championship standings for the ongoing cycle, according to the ICC website.

While Australia will enter the series as favourites based purely on the fact they haven't lost a series on home soil since 2011 and have held on to the Ashes urn since 2018, England will travel Down Under full of confidence after they were able to draw the most recent series against the Aussies at home in 2023.

Much of the pre-series chat in Australia surrounds the top of the hosts' batting order and whether young gun Sam Konstas will retain his place in the XI despite an inconsistent start to his international career.

Ponting believes the toughest decision selectors face is whether to stick with Konstas or recall experienced right-hander Marnus Labuschagne and partner him with Usman Khawaja at the top of Australia's batting order.

"We are in a really interesting little phase right now with the talk about the selections for this first Test match because it was well planned by Cricket Australia to have four Sheffield Shield games leading into the first Test," Ponting began.

"Two of those games have been played already. Some guys have been standouts, other guys that are in the reckoning haven't really taken their opportunity to the maximum just yet. We know Sam Konstas has been the incumbent as he played the last series in the West Indies, but he's one that probably hasn't capitalised as much as he would have liked in those first two (domestic) games," Ponting said.

"These players have still got probably four innings to go before that Test team has to get picked, and we'll have a bit of a clearer picture then. Marnus Labuschagne is the obvious one. Marnus, at his absolute best, is in Australia's best team every day of the week," he added.

"But he hasn't been able to find his best form over the last couple of years. And it looks like now, back at the state level, he's starting to find it again. It is certainly starting to look that way, and he is a lot more confident in scoring. I think he's made four centuries in his last six innings, so he's going well, even though there is still a long, long way out, " Ponting noted.

Cameron Green is expected to line up in Perth (fitness pending), and Ponting thinks fellow all-rounder Beau Webster should also be included, provided he can feature at the domestic level prior to the first Test.

Webster has been battling an ankle issue, but has proven invaluable for the Aussies since debuting last summer, given his all-round talents with the bat, ball and in the field.

"Cameron Green is the other (unknown) one right now," Ponting said.

"He's actually pulled out of this one-day series (against India) with some stiffness in his side. Now we know that he hasn't bowled for a long time. And if he bowls or if he doesn't bowl, it could have a big impact on the way that the Australian batting lines up for the first Test. If he's 100 per cent fit and ready to bowl properly in Perth, then they might think about the batting order being slightly different," Ponting added.

"Do they need Webster then at No.6, or has Webster done enough to keep himself in the side anyway. I'd like to think that he has, even if Green is bowling, he'll probably be on limited workload anyway, so I think Webster deserves to be in the side," Ponting noted.

"So then it comes down to whether they want to back in the youth of Konstas at the start of a national series, or if the sheer weight of runs for Marnus is going to get him back into the team. If it does, I think he'll be in the team as an opening batter," Ponting concluded. (ANI)

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