‘Absolute strike weapon’ - Ricky Ponting heaps massive praise on Mark Wood after Headingley masterclass

The Ashes 2023 has been full of ups and downs for both England and Australia. The hosts were hit with an early setback after Australia won the first two Tests of the series in remarkable fashion. However, England were able to pick up one win in the third Test at Headingley.

Winning their first game of the Ashes 2023, England were able to register a victory thanks to the sensational bowling of pacer Mark Wood. His spell earned him the Player of the Match award, as he took a brilliant fifer in the first innings and followed it up with two wickets in the second innings which helped England limit their opponents to a reasonable total, which they were eventually able to chase down. 

Wood’s magnificent performance caught the eye of former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting, who heaped massive praise on the 33-year-old and even compared him to some of his former legendary teammates. 

"(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," Ricky Ponting said on the ICC review.

The challenge for him is if he keeps his pace at that sort of mid-90 miles an hour: Ponting

Furthermore, Ricky Ponting also stated that England should look to use Mark Wood to unsettle the new batters and that the 33-year-old could be most effective in short and fierce spells. He also stated that keeping up consistency with his fitness and pace could be one of the biggest challenges that England faces. 

"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 Australian legend said.

"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," he added. The challenge for him is going to be if he keeps his pace at that sort of mid-90 miles an hour," Ponting concluded.