'The only person that can take over is Stokes': Ponting

Ben Stokes is the only man who can lead the revival of England's Test side, believes Ricky Ponting, who warned Joe Root that staying on as captain beyond this Ashes series would wear him down.

Barring a final-day miracle in Sydney, Root will be staring down the barrel of 10 straight Tests in Australia as skipper without victory as numerous senior English figures face questions over their futures.

Root has acknowledged as much, signalling that he will consider his position after the Vodafone Ashes series concludes in Hobart later this month.

Ponting, who sees parallels with the final days of his own captaincy tenure and Root's present situation, believes Stokes could improve his own game with the leadership.

"I think Stokes would actually grow as a player if he was the captain of that side," Ponting told cricket.com.au

"The only person that can take over is Ben Stokes.

"I think with a bit of extra responsibility, he might become an even better player and that might have a good impact on the rest of the team."

England may be accused of not learning from history if they were to saddle Stokes with the Test captaincy given how their previous once-in-a-generation allrounders fared in the role.

Ian Botham famously won England the 1981 Ashes off his own bat after he gave up the captaincy mid-series following 12 winless Tests in the job.

Andrew Flintoff had similar struggles, presiding over the 2006-07 Ashes whitewash in Australia and failing to reach the heights of his incredible series in 2005 before later admitting the captaincy was "the worst job I've ever had".

But Ponting pointed out that many specialist batters have also struggled with the pressures of leading their country and highlighting how allrounders like Shaun Pollock and Wasim Akram have previously had success as leaders.

He also suggested Stokes' fighting qualities, on display in his gritty first-innings knock of 66 in which he batted through a side injury that left him in clear discomfort, would lift his teammates.

"You'll find instances right the way through even with top order batters where it hasn't worked," said Ponting.

"It just sits well with some, and doesn't with others.

"I don't know Ben Stokes that well, but if I was trying to change the face of English cricket and trying to give a bit more of a heartbeat and a bit more soul, then I think he'd be the one that I'd be looking at to lead the team.

"Even with what we saw yesterday, to stand up under that much physical pain says a lot about him, and his teammates will thrive off that.

"Anyone that plays underneath him, I'm sure will grow an arm and a leg."

Root arrived in Australia in the form of his life but was under no illusions that a second Ashes tour defeat could spell the end of the road as skipper.

"Of course it will define my captaincy – I'm not naive enough to think that it won't – but again, what a great opportunity," he said before the series.

Root has three half-centuries to his name in the series and has been his side's leading batter but has not replicated his dominant form of 2021, with Australia remaining the only nation in which he has played at least four Tests where he has not scored a century. 

The ongoing Sydney Test marks his 60th match charge of the side, more than any of his predecessors.

"I just think it's going to grind him down," said Ponting.

"Even looking back on my career, I played a couple of years longer – and potentially even captained a couple of years longer – than I should have.

"The challenge just gets harder and harder, and it weighs you down.

"Where England cricket are right now, they're looking at a pretty ordinary last eight or 10 test matches, they might just need a complete reboot with a fresh face in charge.

"I'm not saying that he needs to go or that he has to stand down. But I reckon it will be a conversation in the back in the backrooms of at the ECB."

HCL Vantage Point: Ricky Ponting on England 'fighting fire with fire'

"I absolutely think they batted too long – 288 the highest ever (fourth-innings) chase (at the SCG), an England batting order that's been under the pump right through the summer, three guys potentially injured.

"But that's a decision that they've made and let's hope it pays off for them tomorrow, hopefully they've left themselves plenty of time.

"Who knows what's going to happen with weather, those are things they've probably had to factor in as well. I'm sure that's been part of their thinking.

"If they win halfway through tomorrow, it doesn't matter. But if they don't, then they'll have some questions to answer."

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