Ponting compares Mark Wood to former Australia quicks
With a licence to bowl at full tilt - even at the cost of leaking runs - Wood produced a stirring display of fast bowling for his side at Headingley as England claimed an exciting three-wicket victory to stay alive in the race for the Ashes.
Wood took a five-wicket haul in the first innings to justify England's decision to bowl after winning the toss and claimed two more scalps later in a pulsating contest to register impressive match figures of 7/100 in a Player of the Match performance.
But it has been Wood's ability to hit speeds around the 150km/h mark that has caught the eye of Ponting and allowed the former Australia skipper the ability to compare him to a pair of his former teammates.
Ponting lavished praise on Wood when speaking with host Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review, hailing the fiery right-armer as an “absolute strike weapon” in a similar mould to Australia greats Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee.
“(Wood) is a bit like him (Johnson) and a bit like Brett Lee in his prime I reckon as well,” Ponting said.
“Bowling first change, bowling quickly, intimidating batsmen, getting a little bit of movement when it was there. He is just an absolute strike weapon.”
Ponting also added that England too have to use him in such a manner, getting him on to unsettle new batters at the crease, and bowling him in short, sharp spells.
He identified that fitness and bowling at a similar pace for back-to-back Tests would be Wood’s, and England’s, biggest challenge.
“I think the biggest challenge is getting him through the next couple of games,” Ponting said.
“I know he said after Headingley that he got through I think three Test matches in a row in Australia in the last Ashes series and did it OK.
“The challenge for him is going to be if he keeps his pace at that sort of mid-90 miles an hour because they're like those guys that you know he's not overly tall, he's quite skiddy and when they're not at their absolute top pace-wise they can be quite easy to face.
“They don't get steep bounce, they skid onto the bat and they don't have a lot of movement, but if he can keep his pace up at the absolute top like it was at Leeds then he's going to be really dangerous for the Aussies that's for sure.”
Wood made his first appearance in the series in the third Test and fulfilled expectations with a searing spell that allowed England to bowl Australia out for 263 in the first innings at Headingley.
That turned out to be crucial with the hosts not quite matching the score, but almost negating any lead Australia would have hoped for.
“I think that the difference was there to see in Headingley,” Ponting said of Wood's impact.
“I mean someone that can run in and bowl at that pace but he gets movement with the ball as well. His seam presentation, the way he releases the ball is outstanding for someone that's running in and bowling as fast as he is.
“You look at the delivery that got (Usman) Khawaja, full just swinging back down the line at mid-90 miles an hour.
“If you've got someone like that you just have to play it, when they're physically fit and going, you've just got to keep playing them until they eventually run out of steam.
“The impact he had on the game was absolutely first class and him and (Chris) Woakes I thought were the difference.”
Speaking about the balance of England’s pace attack in the last Test, Ponting said that he thought the hosts would retain Josh Tongue in the XI, but acknowledged the role Woakes played in the winning side.
“I thought they'd stick with Tongue as well and bring Wood in,” the Australian shared.
“But I think it was a very good decision to bring Woakes and Wood into the side because Woakes obviously strengthens their batting and the conditions they probably felt they were going to get at Headingley suited Woakes down to the ground.
“They had more sting in their bowling attack with Wood being there. Some of the stuff we saw him bowl, that was express.
“That's as quick as it gets, pushing 96 or 97 miles an hour. And it looked like he did unsettle some of the Australian top-order.
“So, they'll want to push him through now for the next couple of games. Great for him and England that they've got the long break going into Manchester because they need him up and firing again for the remainder of the series.”