Ricky Ponting claims Ben Stokes should be under MORE pressure than Pat Cummins as cricket legend insists under-fire Aussie skipper has ‘done a tremendous job’ to retain the Ashes

Ricky Ponting believes Ben Stokes should be under scrutiny after England failed to regain the Ashes and insisted Pat Cummins has done a ‘terrific job’ as Australia retained the urn.

Cummins could become the first Australian captain since Steve Waugh in 2001 to complete a series win in England if the tourists can clinch victory at The Oval in the final Test, which gets underway on Thursday.

The Aussie skipper admitted there would be no celebration after his side escaped Old Trafford with a crucial draw, as rain deprived England of the chance to square the series.

The hosts looked poised to level the series at 2-2 to set up a mouthwatering decider at The Oval later this week, only to be denied by the weather.

England needed six wickets to win across the final two days, but could only get through 30 overs as five of the last six sessions in the match were lost without a single ball bowled.

Ricky Ponting has defended Pat Cummins’ captaincy after Australia retained the Ashes

Ponting suggested England skipper Ben Stokes should come under scrutiny 

The former Aussie skipper said Cummins has done a ‘terrific job’ for his team in this series

And Ponting believes that of the two captains, it was Stokes who should be under pressure after the home side ailed to convert dominant performances into wins at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. 

England’s premature declaration in the series opener in Birmingham coupled with their failure to break a crucial ninth-wicket partnership between Cummins and Nathan Lyon cost them the win in the first Test.

‘Everyone’s been talking about how England have outplayed Australia […] if that’s the case, maybe there’s some questions to be asked about Ben Stokes’ captaincy then,’ Ponting told the ICC Review podcast.

‘If the fact is they’ve outplayed Australia and are still trailing in the series, I don’t think there should be too many questions about Pat, that’s for sure.’

Cummins was carted around the park for career-worst figures of 1-for-129 as England piled on 592 runs in their first innings and looked jaded and out of ideas before the rain came to his rescue.

But Ponting, who has been a vocal critic of Cummins’ defensive fields throughout the series, defended the Aussie skipper. 

‘I think Pat’s done a terrific job […] for a couple of hours on Day Two [at Old Trafford], things looked like they were getting out of control, but the captain can’t be expected to have the exact right answer 100 per cent of the time,’ Ponting 

‘I don’t think it’s got the better of Pat – in fact, for Australia to be 2-1 up where they are right now you’d have to say that Pat’s done a terrific job.’

Cummins was carted around the park for career-worst figures of 1-for-129 as England piled on 592 runs in their first innings at Old Trafford

Australia were rescued by the rain in Manchester, which washed out five of the last six scheduled sessions without a ball being bowled

And Ponting argued the pummeling Cummins took at the hands of the English batters in Manchester will have been a valuable lesson ahead of the final Test at The Oval.

‘I felt for him a little bit there because England were playing so well, they really had not much to lose, and Pat being a bowling captain had probably been put under more pressure than he’s ever been put under in his captaincy career,’ he said. 

‘They’ll all learn something about that and hopefully they’ll be better prepared for the last Test match at The Oval.’ 

Meanwhile, Australia’s coach Andrew McDonald has fired back at former state teammate Darren Berry, rejecting his ‘far-fetched’ claim that Pat Cummins should stand down as Test captain. 

Berry, who captained McDonald at Victoria and later coached him for South Australia, claimed Cummins should resign as captain after the Ashes, due to short-ball tactics Berry labelled as both maddening and unwatchable. 

McDonald has been a staunch supporter of Cummins’ captaincy and stood by his captain.

‘I was across those comments from Darren. They were most interesting,’ he said.

Australia coach Andrew McDonald launched a passionate defence of Cummins on Monday

‘What I would say is leadership takes on all different shapes and forms.

‘And if we’re living and dying in the world of tactics only, then I think it’s fair and reasonable to critique some of the execution and tactics that we implemented.

‘But to go as far as suggesting that the captain resign post-series I think is a bit far fetched.

‘There are opinions that we respect and opinions that we don’t.’