Ricky Ponting Brutally Calls Out Harry Brook for Careless Batsmanship in Must-Win Adelaide Test

Ricky Ponting and critics also slammed Josh Inglis following his poor 42-run total in Adelaide, as the Australian keeper faces mounting pressure.

Ricky Ponting Brutally Calls Out Harry Brook for Careless Batsmanship in Must-Win Adelaide Test

Ricky Ponting slams Harry Brook for his careless batting in must-win Ashes Test. (via Sky Sports)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

It has been a dismal outing for England in the 2025-26 Ashes against Australia, as they find themselves at the cusp of another humiliating defeat. Harry Brook’s ‘brain-fade’ dismissal in the second innings put him at the center of criticism, as he was lambasted by Ricky Ponting.

With Australia already leading 2-0 in the five-match Test series against the Three Lions, the home side, at the Adelaide Oval, put up a dominant show. The Aussies hit 371 runs in their first innings, guided by a remarkable ton from wicket-keeper Alex Carey. England, in response, could only manage 286 runs in their first innings, with captain Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer being the only players to breach the 50-run mark.

The world no.1-ranked Test side added another 349 runs to their lead, at the end of the second innings. Travis Head scored big, hitting an impressive 170 runs off 219 balls. Centurion in the first innings, Alex Carey hit another 50+ knock, to set the Three Lions a massive target of 435 runs. At the start of the chase, England lost Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope, but Zak Crawley, Joe Root and Harry Brook held on.

England’s ‘Baz-Ball’ strategy has seemingly turned ineffective on the challenging Australian surfaces. The face of the Three Lions’ failures Down Under has been Harry Brook, who has been the ‘torch-bearer’ of aggressive batting, which even briefly propelled him to the top of the ICC Test Batting Rankings. He has however, failed miserably, scoring just 173 runs in six innings at an average of just 28.83. The 26-year-old, in Adelaide, scored 30 runs off 56 balls, before being dismissed ‘bizarrely’. 

Harry Brook was dismissed in the 48th over of the chase, while attempting an ‘audacious’ reverse-sweep against Aussie spinner Nathan Lyon. The ball hit the leg-stump, with Brook standing in disbelief that he had been bowled out.

It prompted former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, commentating for Channel 7, to lash out at the 26-year-old’s careless batting style as well as his shot selection. Ponting even labelled it as the ‘worst batting’ he had ever seen.

The worst batting that I have ever seen… Imagine walking back into the dressing room, in front of your mates in a must-win Ashes Test match, having got out like that.

Brook was equally sloppy on the field, as he dropped two crucial catches during Australia’s innings. The Three Lions are 228 runs away from victory, and it would require a mountain to climb for Will Jacks and Jamie Smith on Day 5 to complete a world-record chase in Adelaide. 

Ricky Ponting says Snicko technology ‘not good enough’, following Ashes controversy 

The ‘Snickometer’ technology, used to review umpires’ decisions, has been at the center of a major controversy, following a plethora of errors in Australia’s third Ashes Test against England in Adelaide. Ricky Ponting opined that the technology is ‘not good enough’ to be used in Tests. 

Ricky Ponting on Snicko
Ricky Ponting was critical of the Snicko technology, following the Ashes umpiring controversy. (via NDTV Sports)

Early on Day 1 in Adelaide, Alex Carey was deemed not out despite being caught behind after the ball brushed past his bat, due to the Snickometer showing no spike. BBG Sports, the operators of Snicko, conceded to the errors. Similarly, during England’s innings, Jamie Smith was given out in a similar scenario. Snicko replays showed a spike, but it appeared a frame after the ball had passed his bat. 

All of it has raised concerns over the technology’s reliability, with Ricky Ponting speaking out on the issue. The 51-year-old exclaimed that the Snicko technology used in Australia has not been up to the mark, as well as claimed that it is inferior to the ‘UltraEdge’ technology used elsewhere. He even added that umpires do not trust Snicko, given that it often produces inaccurate results, limiting the scope of correct decisions.

This technology that we are using here [in Australia] is simply not as good as technology that’s used in other countries. You talk to the umpires, they’ll tell you the same thing. They can’t trust it.

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc, during the Adelaide Test, had also criticized the technology. In a conversation with one of the on-field umpires on Day 2, Starc was caught by the stump mic, uttering that Snicko should be ‘sacked’ and make too many mistakes. 

Also Read: