Ponting unhappy with the stalling tactics of England

There had already been clashes between players on the fifth day when Australia captain Ricky Ponting was incensed by England’s delaying tactics with final pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar at the crease.

Twice during a 69-ball stand of defiance, England 12th man Bilal Shafayat ran onto the field to offer Anderson batting gloves while physio Steve McCaig was ushered off by the disgruntled Australians on the second occasion, having made it all the way to the middle.

With every second crucial in England’s bid to run down the clock given their narrow lead and Australia attempting to send down as many overs as possible in the final hour, relations between the sides deteriorated with Ponting blasting his opponents’ behaviour.

‘‘I don’t think that was required,’’ Ponting said. ‘‘He had changed his gloves the over before and his glove is not going to be too sweaty in one over.

‘‘I am not sure what the physio was doing out there – I didn’t see him call for any physio to come out.

‘‘As far as I am concerned it was pretty ordinary, actually.

‘‘They can play whatever way they want to play. We have come to play by the rules and the spirit of the game, and it is up to them to do what they want to do.’’ However, although Ponting urged others to take note of England’s conduct, he did not want to take the matter further as captain of Australia.

‘‘I was unhappy with it but I don’t want to make that big a deal about it,’’ he said.

‘‘I am sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy as they should.

‘‘But it is not the reason we didn’t win. I won’t think about it again when we leave here.’’ Responding to the fact Ponting had been upset by the shenanigans, England captain Andrew Strauss said: ‘‘If he is then that’s a shame.

‘‘There was a lot of confusion.

We firstly sent the 12th man out to let Jimmy and Monty know there was time left and not just the overs.

‘‘Then drinks spilt on his glove and Jimmy called up to the dressing room and we weren’t sure whether we needed the 12th man or the physio.

‘‘Our intentions were good so weren’t deliberately trying to waste a huge amount of time.

‘‘That wasn’t our tactics, those two were playing pretty well so the reality of the situation is Australia didn’t take that final wicket and we got away with a draw.

‘‘I personally thought the game was played in a pretty good spirit the whole way through.

‘‘I didn’t feel there were lines crossed and I think we’d all like it to stay that way.’’ Two other conflicts earlier in the day suggested things were on the verge of boiling over.

In the warm-ups, England batsman Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson got in a heated exchange and Stuart Broad and Peter Siddle were involved in an on-field altercation.

However, Ponting played down the significance of each exchange. Of the pre-play clash, he said: ‘‘It was a case of a few guys on the ground taking each others’ space.’’ Umpire Billy Doctrove addressed the physical contact, which occurred when Broad was running past bowler Siddle.

‘‘He handled it and got on top of it pretty quickly,’’ Ponting said. ‘‘I don’t think it was that significant and if there had been anything in it I would have been spoken to on the field. It was probably accidental. Move on. It was a great game of cricket and we should be remembering that.’’ Paul Collingwood’s gritty 74, which spanned close to six hours, proved the cornerstone of England’s rearguard and somehow dragged the hosts to the brink of salvation from 70 for five, requiring 239 runs to make Australia bat again.

‘‘He just brought his character into his performance,’’ said Strauss. ‘‘He is a tenacious little red-head, that’s the way he is and that’s the way he plays.

‘‘He never takes a backward step and he fights, he keeps fighting ‘‘That was his route into the Test team and it’s kind of the only way he knows.

‘‘In circumstances like that you almost expect him to do something along those lines and it just underlines his value to the side.’’ Ponting added: ‘‘He did exactly what was required for his team.

‘‘He gave himself every opportunity to do the best job he could.

‘‘It shows a lot of character for someone like that to take the majority of the bowling through the course of the afternoon.

‘‘He deserves a pat on the back. Without his innings England would have been in a whole lot of trouble.’’ Everyone in the 16,000- strong full house, including those on the England balcony were forced onto the edge of their seats.

But shortly after getting into the lead, England’s heroic final pair sensed their moment of Ashes history.

‘‘I think when they put Marcus North on I thought we had a great chance,’’ said Anderson.

‘‘They were putting a parttime spinner on and Monty was playing it very well and we were communicating well together, helping each other through.’’

■ England’s women may be in for a tense final day in their Ashes Test at Worcester today after conceding a 41- run first-innings to Australia.

The hosts resumed on 116 for five in reply to 309 yesterday morning and were indebted to the determination of Beth Morgan (58), who batted for 262 balls.

Australia captain Jodie Fields used eight bowling options, and every England batsman apart from the two openers made a double-figure score on the way to 268 all out – a total which featured a 49-run stand for the last wicket between Holly Colvin and Laura Marsh.

Australia still had time, though, to respond with 128 for one by stumps – and an unbeaten 59 from opener Alex Blackwell means they will begin again today already 169 in front.