Ashes shock good for Australia, says Ponting

SYDNEY—The shock of losing the Ashes to England in September may have been good for Australian cricket, skipper Ricky Ponting said Wednesday. It had helped renew the focus and desire in a team which had become accustomed to sweeping all before it, Ponting said at the launch of his book, Ashes Diary 2005.
The first Australian Captain to lose the coveted trophy in nearly 20 years pointed out that since the team’s humbled return to Australia “we’ve managed to turn things around quite drastically and dramatically”. Ponting has in recent weeks led Australia to victory in a three-match one-day series against the World XI and followed up with two crushing Test victories over the World XI and West Indies.
“The way we’ve played over the last few weeks, we’ve changed things around quickly, so that’s been very, very satisfying,” he said. “I don’t think (losing the Ashes) was a bad thing for the team or for Australian cricket, to tell the truth.
“It was a learning curve for a lot of us. I certainly think and felt that I learnt a lot through the Ashes tour. I think a lot of the players learnt a lot about themselves as well”. In his diary entry for September 12, the day the Ashes were lost, Ponting said the 2-1 margin probably flattered Australia.
“The hardest thing about our defeat is that we know what went wrong — we failed with the bat, lacked penetration and control with the ball (Warne and McGrath excepted), dropped catches, bowled far too many no-balls and lost Glenn McGrath to injury for the vital Edgbaston Test. “But that was WHAT went wrong; the reasons WHY we failed remain a mystery.
“England played well, putting us under pressure with bat and ball. Despite their excellence, we should still have been able to compete far more effectively than we did”. Ponting said that of the entire touring squad only Shane Warne could look at himself in the mirror and know he had played to his full potential.
“The rest of us have just hinted at the form we are capable of, and that has cost us the series,” he wrote. But Ponting was also sure the team had not gone from world-beaters to deadbeats in one series.
“We underperformed massively ... and I remain convinced that we have the right men to put the record straight,” he wrote. “I expect us to do that over the months that will follow”. At the launch of his diary on Wednesday Ponting could claim that his prediction had come true. But, he added wryly, “it would have been nice to have won 2-1 and still learn a few lessons along the way as well”.—Agencies