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James Anderson roasted for 'hysterical' all-time Ashes XI blunder with Ricky Ponting as wicketkeeper: 'Yeah, I forgot'
At the end of the squad revelation came not one, but two bizarre calls, both involving Ricky Ponting
Former England fast bowler James Anderson’s all-time Ashes XI sparked bewilderment, especially his choice of the legendary Ricky Ponting as wicketkeeper.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Anderson's first selection call raised eyebrows as he picked Don Bradman, who “averaged 99.9 or something” as his first opener. Bradman, hailed one of the greatest of all time, never opened the batting in his legendary career of 52 Tests. He played at No. 3 in 40 of those matches, scoring 5078 runs, but Anderson paired him up with former England opener Alastair Cook, who has primarily been an opener. As a captain, he also win two Ashes series - 2013 and 2015.
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Ponting was slotted at No. 3, followed by Joe Root at No. 4. While the second selection call made perfect sense, Root was picked at the expense of Steve Smith, the third-highest run-getter in Ashes history, behind Bradman and Jack Hobbs.
Kevin Pietersen was picked for the No. 5 role. The former England batter had a breakout campaign in the historic 2005 Ashes series, and later became one of the seven England batters to score in double century on Australia soil after his Adelaide knock. Ian Botham and Ben Stokes occupy the Nos.6 and 7 positions, with Anderson explaining, "he’s greedy and wants two all-rounders in there.”
Late great Shane Warne got picked as the lone spinner in the line-up alongside fast bowlers - Bob Willis, Glenn McGrath and Stuart Broad. Anderson did not pick himself in the XI.
At the end of the revelation came not one, but two bizarre calls, both involving Ponting. Firstly, he ignored the most successful captain in the format, with a win percentage of 62.33 per cent, to name Stokes as the leader of the XI. While he could argue that Ponting lost three Ashes as a skipper during his career, Anderson still had Bradman as the option, who won all four Ashes series as a captain.
The other twist came when he realised he forgot to pick the wicketkeeper. And while he could have probably made a change in the squad, without hesitation he quipped: “I’ll give the gloves to Ricky Ponting.” The Aussie did don the keeping gloves back in the mid-nineties in four matches in club cricket, but never assumed the role when he turned pro.
And Anderson was not spared for his mishap.
“I have no words. Apparently Ricky Ponting is keeping wicket,” The Oracle wrote on X. “Make sure you’re sitting down. This is hysterical. It’s the worst combined team chosen in any sport ever. The Stokes selection as captain is one many farcical picks.”
Few others were left dumbstruck. “What is Jimmy Anderson on?” one added.
“He’s done zero research clearly,” a second commented.
“This is so bad,” a third said.
TNT Sports later deleted the video from all its social media pages.
James Anderson’s all-time Ashes XI: Don Bradman, Alastair Cook, Ricky Ponting (wk), Joe Root, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Botham, Ben Stokes (c), Shane Warne, Bob Willis, Glenn McGrath, Stuart Broad.
