Ashes 2019 | You don’t write world-class players like Anderson and Broad off, says Ricky Ponting

Anderson and Broad have arguably been the most destructive pace duo in Test cricket for years now. Their consistency in line and length, adding to the ability to move the ball both ways in the air and off the pitch, has left many a top-class batsman — even entire batting lineups — bamboozled. Ponting, who once stated that the duo might be on the decline as they age, now clarifies his position. 

"I probably said they were (on the decline) leading into the Australian series a couple of years ago. Even if their pace is not quite as good as it was, if that ball starts swinging in the right conditions, they're an absolute handful. So I'm not going to say that they're past their best or they're tapering off because the one thing you don't do with world-class players is ever write them off,” Ponting told cricket.com.au, reported CricketNext.

Ponting observes that England have generally won whenever Anderson and Broad have done well. The duo have a total of 199 wickets against Australia in Test matches.

“Certainly, in the last four or five or six Ashes series, they've had a huge input in the way those series have gone. When they've bowled well, they've generally won. And when teams have been able to play well against them, England have struggled to win."

According to the former Australian captain, the duo have been able to maintain their level of consistency because of their sole focus in the longest format of the game. 

"I think it (focusing only on Tests) is an advantage for Anderson and Broad. We've got our guys traveling all around the world playing white-ball cricket with a big focus on trying to win the World Cup and then in a couple of weeks' time we've got to switch over and be ready for an Ashes Test," Ponting added.

Although it is almost certain that green pitches that can fully be exploited by the Englishmen await the Australians, Ponting had a word or two of caution against the idea. 

"(Green pitches are) probably where England have had their most success against us, certainly in the last couple of series over here. And whenever we've been subjected to those conditions as a batting group, we've failed poorly. (But) with a bit of uncertainty around their top order batting, I don't think they'll want to expose inexperienced top-order players to (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood and (Mitchell) Starc because that could backfire on them pretty quickly," he added.

The first Ashes Test match — which also marks the beginning of the World Test Championship — begins on August 1 at Edgbaston.