Ponting: We deserved to lose but will bounce back
AUSTRALIA captain Ricky Ponting insisted his side still had one hand on the Ashes despite yesterday’s second Test defeat at Lord’s.
Ponting vowed not to overreact to a 115-run loss that came just seven days after the tourists roundly outplayed England in the drawn first Test in Cardiff.
And with his side trailing 1-0 and three matches still to play, the skipper stressed there was ample time to turn series on its head.
“One Test match doesn’t make a summer. We’re 1-0 down but there is time to bounce back. There are three Tests to go,” said Ponting.
“It is nothing to do with Cardiff. England played pretty well. There is no hangover from Cardiff when we played so well.
“It was only last week we were jumping about how well we played. A week in sport can be a long time. There are lots of little things to look at and we have to rectify those things.”
Ponting conceded England had deserved to win a match that they dominated from the outset.
He added: “England have been the better side from the first ball, and not only in the big moments. We’ve been outplayed from the first morning. We’ve been chasing our tails.
“We had our chances with the bat on day two but we came up short. I’m pretty proud how we stuck at it and to get over 400 runs is a good effort. We just have to bounce back now.”