Ashes: Mark Wood is a bit like Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee in his prime, says Ricky Ponting

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is impressed with the impact made by England fast bowler Mark Wood

Manchester: Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting is impressed with the impact made by England fast bowler Mark Wood during the third Ashes Test at Headingley and compared the tearaway pacer with two legendary Australian bowlers Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee.

In playing the ongoing Ashes for the first time, Wood picked 5-34 from 11.4 overs and 2-66 from 17 overs in both innings of the match, proving to be a crucial point of difference for England in winning the Headingley Test by three wickets. “(Wood) is a bit like him (Johnson) and a bit like Brett Lee in his prime I reckon as well. Bowling first change, bowling quickly, intimidating batsmen, getting a little bit of movement when it was there. He is just an absolute strike weapon,” said Ponting on The ICC Review show.

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Ponting agreed with the view that Wood’s inclusion turned out to be the difference for England at Headingley. “I think that the difference was there to see in Headingley. I mean someone that can run in and bowl at that pace but he gets movement with the ball as well. His seam presentation, the way he releases the ball is outstanding for someone that’s running in and bowling as fast as he is,” he said.

“You look at the delivery that got (Usman) Khawaja, full just swinging back down the line at mid-90 miles an hour. If you’ve got someone like that you just have to play it, when they’re physically fit and going, you’ve just got to keep playing them until they eventually run out of steam. The impact he had on the game was absolutely first class and him and (Chris) Woakes I thought were the difference,” he added.

The former Australian captain further identified that fitness and bowling at a similar pace for back-to-back Tests would be the biggest challenge for Wood, with the fourth Ashes Test starting at Old Trafford, Manchester, on July 19.

The Headingley match was Wood’s first Test of this year after playing on the Pakistan tour last year. “I think the biggest challenge is getting him through the next couple of games. I know he said after Headingley that he got through I think three Test matches in a row in Australia in the last Ashes series and did it OK. The challenge for him is going to be if he keeps his pace at that sort of mid-90 miles an hour because they’re like those guys that you know he’s not overly tall, he’s quite skiddy and when they’re not at their absolute top pace-wise they can be quite easy to face,” said Ponting.

“They don’t get steep bounce, they skid onto the bat and they don’t have a lot of movement, but if he can keep his pace up at the absolute top like it was at Leeds then he’s going to be really dangerous for the Aussies that’s for sure,” he concluded.