Ashes 2019 | 'Davey has struggled but is a quality player' - Ricky Ponting backs David Warner
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has come forward and taken a stand for opener David Warner who has been struggling with his form throughout the Ashes. Warner has scored three consecutive ducks and that has imposed a doubt regarding whether he will get to retain his position at The Oval.
While Warner has been exceptional on the field, as usual, he has failed terribly with the bat included three consecutive ducks in his last three innings. The biggest villain in Warner's story has been England pacer Stuart Broad who dismissed him six times in eight innings and Warner has only amassed 79 Ashes runs so far.
However, Ponting believes that the captain and management wouldn't be too keen on changing the team composition ahead of The Oval Test, especially after Australia retained the Ashes at Old Trafford.
"Davey has obviously struggled but he's a quality player and if you looked at that, even if they were to leave him out of that game, he's going to start back in Australia anyway because his record in Australia is so good," the former Australian captain was quoted saying by cricket.com.au.
"I can't see them making any changes. They backed (Marcus) Harris in a couple of games for certain reasons so keep the group together and hopefully have some slight improvement in most of those players in the Oval Test."
The wicket of Craig Overton, the last England wicket to fall on Sunday, sparked wild celebrations from the Australians that continued well into the night in Manchester. Ponting, however, said that the team would now be keen to start focussing on the final Test at The Oval.
"I think it's one thing to retain them, but it's a different thing to win them and I think that should be the focus now," Ponting said. "They need to focus on winning and not let England back into the series."
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