Ponting Attacked Over Australian Cricket Captaincy

A second former Australian Test star has raised doubts over Ricky Ponting's continued captaincy of the side.

Greg Ritchie says the Aussie skipper "doesn't know what's going on" and could help England retain the Ashes this winter. Ritchie undermined Ponting's captaincy further by adding that "Australia would win the Ashes if Shane Warne was captain. On the field, he [Ponting] doesn't know what's going on. England's bowlers have our measure."

The comments come less than a week after former Australian captain Ian Chappell said he was disappointed that Warne had missed out on the role.

Ponting became the first Australian skipper to lose the Ashes for 18 years, when his team succumbed to a 2-1 defeat last summer. Looking back at the series, Ritchie criticised Ponting's decision to bowl first in the second Test at Edgbaston after Glenn McGrath sustained an ankle injury just before the start of the match. "What were they doing playing rugby league before the match?" questioned Ritchie.

He also hit out at Australia coach John Buchanan describing him as a "buffoon", before adding: "What Buchanan knows about coaching you could write on the back of a dinner plate."

It was Ponting who was on the offensive last week when he raised doubts of his own over the ability of Andrew Flintoff to lead England to Ashes victory. "Freddie is going to have a lot on his plate now," said Ponting. "Even for me, last year in that Ashes series, we were kept pretty busy as captains. He's got to do extra training because he's an all-rounder as well, so it will all mount up on him."

Despite the criticism over his decision-making Ponting has enjoyed excellent form with the bat as captain, averaging 63.21 since taking over the role.