England should heed Aussies' Leach assault: Ponting

A clear strategy to hit Jack Leach out of the attack is already paying off for Australia, says Ricky Ponting, who suggested England could consider doing likewise when facing his spin-bowling counterpart Nathan Lyon.

Leach, who won a spot in the England side over both Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson, was pummelled at close to nine runs per over in his first outing on Australian soil as the home side attacked him with often reckless abandon.

While Marnus Labuschagne (74) paid the price with his wicket when he was caught off the left-arm spinner, Australia’s ploy allowed Travis Head (112no off just 95 balls) to take aim at a group of fast bowlers that grew noticeably weary.

Ben Stokes was hampered by a left knee concern and couldn’t bowl at full pace late in the day, while standout seamer Ollie Robinson left the field in the final session after a one-over spell when he was noticeably down on pace.

"The Aussies had targeted him (Leach), probably because they wanted to get the quicks back bowling again," Ponting told cricket.com.au. 

"Taking the spinner out means the quicks have got to come back on and get some more overs into them and have them tired at the end of the day, which (was) the best time to bat.

"It is talked about a lot around teams, especially early in Test matches when there's not much there for the spinners. If you can really capitalise on that and take them down then it works well in your advantage."

England bowling coach Jon Lewis conceded after play the visitors’ less-than-ideal preparation – their squad spent two weeks training in quarantine conditions and then had their only warm-up game washed out – had meant their fast bowlers came into the match underdone.

"Our preparation probably played a part in the last session there," said Lewis. "But it’s the same for both sides."

It was obvious early on that the Aussies had decided to take down Leach at all costs.

David Warner (94) and Labuschagne blasted him for 31 during his opening three-over spell. Despite Labuschagne then falling victim attempting a cut shot off him in the second session to end a 156-run stand, his replacement Steve Smith immediately looked to continue the assault.

The effect of Australia’s dominance became clear as Head raced to a rapid century before stumps with neither Leach (who Head spanked for 26 off just 11 balls faced) nor the tiring quicks able contain him.

Leach’s struggles were a stark contrast to Nathan Lyon’s tidy nine overs on day one.

While those admittedly came while Australia’s pace attack was running riot at the other end, Ponting noted Jos Buttler and Ollie Pope had an opportunity during their innings-high 52-run partnership to take on the off-spinner.

"I was a little bit surprised yesterday that England didn't do it a bit more when Nathan Lyon first came on," said Ponting. "They had Butler and Pope there who are both decent players and hitters of spin.

"They were just a little bit more reluctant to do it I guess, because of the situation they found themselves in as a team."

Key to their contrasting fortunes, said Ponting, was the shorter length bowled by Lyon.

According to Opta, 15 per cent of Leach’s deliveries were half volleys. Fewer than four per cent of Lyon’s deliveries were that full, with the Australian hitting a good length 96 per cent of the time.

"He actually bowled a length that allowed the Australians to use their feet and get down the wicket," Ponting said of Leach.

"If you look at the length that Lyon bowled yesterday compared to what Leach bowled today, Leach was at least a metre, metre and a half fuller, which meant the batters could get down there and hit him back down the ground.

"It looked like it was a team plan, something that was spoken about, and they did it very well.

"I felt he probably had to be a little bit more defensive and drag his length back a little bit, and bowl a bit quicker so the batsmen couldn’t use their feet to hit him off the front foot.

"If anything, he had to try and challenge them off the back foot somehow – and he ended up getting the wicket off a quicker, back-of-a-length ball to Marnus."