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Ricky Ponting identifies the two England stars Australia will target in the Ashes

Ricky Ponting skippered Australia to Ashes success and defeat
Ricky Ponting skippered Australia to Ashes success and defeat

Ricky Ponting knows what it takes to lead Australia to victory against England in an Ashes Series and ahead of the First Test in Brisbane on Thursday, the Aussie’s all-time record run scorer and BT Sport pundit told Yahoo Sport who believes will be the two players the home side will look to target in the weeks ahead.

You always target the opposition’s best players and there is no doubt that for England, their captain Joe Root will be a key player in this series if he is allowed to be.

So the Australian players and management to appreciate the effect it will have on that England dressing room if they can get Root out early in the opening Test and make sure he doesn’t find his form.

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The aim is to make it extremely hard for every single one of those batsmen that come under pressure in an Ashes Test match, but of course it would be a big boost to the Australian team if they can get Root and their other senior batsman Alistair Cook on to the back foot.

Alastair Cook and Joe Root will be pivotal players for England in the upcoming Ashes series.
Alastair Cook and Joe Root will be pivotal players for England in the upcoming Ashes series.

Cook has not been in the best form in recent months and if I was the Australian captain, I would look to take him or Root down as that could have a ripple effect down their batting line-up.

At the end of the day, whichever batsman is in has to be the focus of the Australian bowling attack, but you feel that Root and Cook will be the players they will expect to hold their batting line-up together.

I can associate with the position Cook finds himself in now because I have been there myself, stepping down as captain and trying to fit into the team in a new role that does not undermine the man who now fills his former role as a leader.

Personally, I didn’t find it difficult to step away from the captaincy and remain as part of the squad. I felt I was still a good enough player to be in the team and that I could use my experience and influence to help those around me.

Guiding

When the young kids came into the team, I felt I could play a role in guiding them and educating them on what it meant to be an Australia cricketer, but I don’t know if that kind of role comes naturally to Alistair Cook.

If he feels he is getting in the way of Joe Root and the others leaders in the England team, then maybe he will step away from it, but I would think that having someone having someone like Cook in the dressing room has to be used as an advantage.

I probably wasn’t as outward with my thoughts when I wasn’t the captain any more because you don’t want to look like you are undermining the skipper, or get in the captain’s way. But quietly, when the time was right, I spoke to the younger players and passed on any advice I could give them. That is the way I went about it.

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