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“Embarrassed himself”: Ponting doubles down on Archer after Smith spat
SEN • December 11th, 2025 7:00 pm
Ricky Ponting was up and about in the commentary box during the Steve Smith / Jofra Archer confrontation during Day 4 of the Gabba Test.
While Ponting enjoyed seeing Archer reach speeds of 150km/h, he ‘champed’ the England quick after Smith also did out in the middle due to the right-armer finally bowling at full tilt with the game all but over.
Ponting admits that the back and forth got the hairs on the back of his neck standing up while calling Archer embarrassing for not bringing the pace and aggression when it mattered earlier in the Test.
“When I ‘championed’ him, I could actually hear what Steve Smith had said to him in the stump mic,” Ponting told SEN.
“Smithy said champion, and then that's just what came out of my mouth, but it just got me going and got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
“There haven’t been many games that I’ve commentated that I wish I was back playing again. But I wish I was out there the other night as part of that, because that’s what you miss and that’s what it’s all about.
“But look, for Jofra, he just embarrassed himself, and he embarrassed his team the other night, that's what I make of that.
“To bowl his fastest spell ever in Test cricket, when Australia's chasing 60… it (the fast spell) has been there the whole time, it’s been up his sleeve, and England have needed him to do it, and he hasn’t been willing to do it.
“Day 3, when they needed him to do it, he rocks up with his pillow under his arm, and that was always going to be a bad day for England from that moment. As soon as anyone saw that it was going to be ‘Okay, there's their mindset for the day. They’re just going to rock up and Australia’s going to fall over and we’ll bowl them out’.
“Well, that doesn't happen against Australia, it doesn't happen in Ashes cricket.”
Having seen Archer at his quickest, Ponting pondered whether England would have also been bemused that his best came not when the game was there to be won.
As a result, he has no doubt there would have been a lot of soul-searching regarding their pace ace in the wake of the eight-wicket loss.
“But now that England know that he can do it, then how can he not rock out and do that first morning in Adelaide? He has to do that now, that’s if in fact they haven't had enough,” Ponting said.
“Maybe what they saw the other day was just the straw that broke the camel's back, and it’s, ‘If he's not willing to do it for the team, then we'll find someone else that will’, who knows?
“They’ve got lots of questions that need to be answered, but for Stokes, he must sit back and think, ‘Oh my god, where has that been? Why haven't you been able to do that for me for the last four days that we've been in the field?’.
“So, yep, there's a bit of soul searching, and I'm sure some pretty stern conversations have probably already been had around that dressing room.”
The third Test between Australia and India begins in Adelaide on December 17. Listen to every ball LIVE on SEN – your home of cricket.
