Ricky Ponting has revealed that he was offered the job of head coach of the England men’s Test team before Brendon McCullum.
McCullum succeeded Chris Silverwood in May 2022 and set about changing the way the team played after a run of one win in 17 Tests. With Ben Stokes as captain, England have adopted an ultra-attacking style, dubbed ‘Bazball’, which has helped them lose just three of their 14 Tests under his leadership.
The former New Zealand captain was appointed by Rob Key, who took over as director of cricket a month earlier. Key and his selection committee, which comprised strategic adviser Andrew Strauss, chief executive Tom Harrison and performance director Mo Bobat said at the time that McCullum was the "outstanding candidate" for the role.
But former Australia captain Ponting has now claimed that he spoke with Key about the role before McCullum. “I actually got asked before Brendon took the job, there you go,” he told Guerilla Cricket.
“You guys might be the first to find that out, but I did take some calls from Robert Key as soon as he took over that job. But I’m just not ready for a full-time international coaching job, where I’m at in my life. Having travelled as much as I have, with young kids now I just don’t want to be away as much as I was.
“And even talking to Brendon, his family is only just arriving today. When you’ve got kids that are in school, moving them around, that’s not what I want to do.”
Ponting is working as a pundit for Sky Sports during the Ashes and his astute observations of the game were commonplace throughout the first Test at Edgbaston. The 48-year-old has worked as a coach in the Australian set-up and has been head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Delhi Daredevils since 2018.
As well as providing analysis for TV viewers, Ponting has hit the headlines recently for his spat with England bowler Ollie Robinson. After being criticised for swearing at Usman Khawaja, the seamer cited Ponting as someone who has previously used sledging as a tactic during the Ashes – prompting a spiky response from the ex-Aussie skipper.
"As I said after Ollie Robinson said what he said, this England cricket team hasn't played against Australia, and they'll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about," Ponting said on ICC Review Podcast. "And if Robinson hasn't learned that already after last week, then he's a slow learner."
Robinson was on the losing side during the first Test, which saw Australia win by two wickets in a thriller. Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon got the visitors home in dramatic circumstances in the final session at Edgbaston.
