Ricky Ponting slams England batter for 'dopey' dismissal in Adelaide Ashes defeat

Jamie Smith hits counter-attacking fifty, but gets out slogging

England were set a target of 435 to make a comeback in the series. After two early wickets of Ben Duckett (4) and Ollie Pope (17), zak Crawley (85) and Joe Root (39) steadied the ship and gave England hope. Regular wickets, however, meant England were five down for 189, bringing Jamie Smith to the crease late on day four.

The England wicketkeeper negotiated the fourth evening cautiously, getting to two off 30 balls, but came out with a completely different approach on the fifth morning as England looked to pull off a heist. He hit Nathan Lyon for a six in the fifth over of the day before smashing another one off Cameron Green three overs later.

As the innings approached the 80-over mark, Lyon was injured in the field, and hobbled off clutching his hamstring, having already taken three wickets in the innings. As Australia were left one bowler short, Smith continued his counter-attack, launching three consecutive boundaries just before the 80th over.

His aggressive gameplay did not change with a change in the ball. Across the 82nd and 83rd overs, Smith hit Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc for four boundaries in four balls, but eventually got carried away trying to hit a fifth. A slog across the line to a length ball angled across him from Starc only managed to land in the hands of Cummins at mid-on. Smith was dismissed for 60 (83) – his first fifty-plus score of the series – leaving England reeling at 285-7.

Ponting slams Smith

Ricky Ponting, who was on air during Smith's wicket, was clear in his feelings about the dismissal. "Dopey, dopey, dopey. There's another one of those moments. Another one of those times where they don’t need it, they didn’t need to do that," Ponting said.

"The batting was looking easy for him. A new ball on this wicket, the best time in the game to bat and you just go and throw it away. Right off the toe end of the bat, straight up into the air, easy catch for Cummins. It was good. But not for long enough."

England's lower order resisted for a while after Smith's wicket, adding 67 more runs before being bowled out for 352, 82 short of the target.

Smith's wicket was not the first time Ponting was critical of an England batter in this innings. Earlier in the chase, Harry Brook had attempted a scoop shot off Scott Boland, which he miscued, prompting Ponting to call it the "worst batting" he had seen.

"The worst batting that I have ever seen… Imagine walking back into the dressing room, in front of your mates in a must-win Ashes Test match, having got out like that."

Brook was eventually out bowled, reverse-sweeping Lyon for 30.