Ricky Ponting insists Australia are in no mood to press the panic button despite being comprehensively outplayed in the second Test.
Skipper rules out wholesale changes for Edgbaston
Ricky Ponting insists Australia are in no mood to press the panic button despite being comprehensively outplayed in the second Test.
The tourists lost for the first time in 75 years at Lord's to go 1-0 behind in the five-Test series, but Ponting is keen to stress the positives after his side dominated the first Test at Cardiff and came agonisingly close to taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
The Australian skipper told
Sky Sports News: "I said coming into the series that I thought it would be really close and the key moments and the critical moments in the Test match will be what tell the story at the end of the day.
"We won most of those moments in Cardiff and we lost most of those in this Test. We have to make sure we are on the ball to get the momentum going our way at the start of the third Test match."
With a number of players struggling for form, Ponting was asked if he expected changes at Egbaston but said: "I wouldn't expect there will be too many changes.
"Last week in Cardiff was pretty much nine out of 10, this one has been a lot less than that but it is not panic stations for us just yet. We will pick what we believe is the best 11 players we have got for the Test match."
Outplayed
Ponting also reckons the break before the third Test will help Australia.
"It is disappointing to lose any game that you play, but realistically we were outplayed for most of the game at Lord's," he added.
"The last day and a half was probably the best that we played for the whole game but we just gave away too big a start early in the game, so it's disappointing after playing so well in Cardiff. But we have got about 10 days now before the next Test, so we have to make sure we regroup and bounce back for the start of the third one."
As for the mood in the camp, Ponting said: "The players are pretty good. It was only a week ago we were talking about how well we were playing so we have got to focus on a lot of the positives that have come out of the first two Tests we have played.
"We realise we were a fair bit off the mark in the second Test match. There is some room for improvement there which we have to make sure we jump on pretty quickly.
"We have got a tour game up in Northampton starting on Friday and it is important that some of our players get a lot out of that game and take that into the third Test."
The third Test starts at Edgbaston on July 30.
