Ricky Ponting's bombshell England reveal amid Ashes feud

Ricky Ponting has revealed he was tabbed for England's head coaching job following the departure of former mentor Chris Silverwood in early 2022. The former Aussie skipper turned down the job, with England keeping antipodean flavour in former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum.

While there is no doubt England's fortunes in Test cricket have been revitalised under McCullum, the mich vaunted 'Bazball' gameplan was not enough to overcome Australia in the first Test, fresh from their triumph over India in the World Test Championship final at The Oval a week prior. Ponting's revelation comes after he played an unexpectedly large off-field role, his name invoked by England seamer Ollie Robinson after his now widely-mocked first-innings send-off of Usman Khawaja - who ha scored 141.

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Ponting has done some coaching work - notably with the Dehli Capitals in the Indian Premier League, as well as assisting under former teammate Justin Langer in Australia's 2019 World Cup campaign. He told the Guerilla Cricket podcast that he had been approached by England's director of men's cricket Robert Key regarding a potential role soon after Silverwood's departure.

“I actually got asked before Brendon took the job,” Ponting said. “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.”

Ricky Ponting's amusing off-field role during first Ashes Test

Ponting's efforts as a commentator during the first Test have amused many fans, particularly after Robinson suggested players have seen worse on-field sledging and behaviour perpetrated by Ponting and co in years past. Aussie fans delighted in Ponting's response, in which he quipped the English bowler would be better served concentrating on the Test at hand, rather than his on-field actions from 15 years ago.

He was also involved in an amusing on-air exchange with former England rival Kevin Pietersen, offering a one-sentence riposte after Pietersen had gushed about Joe Root's second innings contribution.

Robinson's aggression added to the entertainment of the match, which saw Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon produce a 55-run partnership to help Australia over the line in a thrilling final session of play. Robinson has since copped plenty of heat after his spray at Khawaja and mocking the Australian batting tail.

The legendary Aussie batter responded to Robinson and claimed he should be more focused on his bowling, which came under fire during the Edgbaston test, rather than bringing him into his feud.

"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 told the ICC Review podcast.

"And if Ollie Robinson hasn't learned that already after last week, then he's a slow learner. Some of the things he had to say – I mean he even brought my name into it, which I felt was a little bit unusual, but for me it's water off a duck's back.

"If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he's worried about what I did 15 years ago. He'll learn pretty quickly that if you're going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills."

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