Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has criticised England 's decision to rest Mark Wood for the second Ashes Test in Adelaide, insisting he should have been picked over Chris Woakes
Wood was arguably England's best bowler in the first Test at the Gabba, with his express pace unsettling some of the Australian batters and accounting for the key wicket of Steve Smith.
The 31-year-old has had plenty of injury problems over the years and England were clearly unwilling to risk him in back-to-back Tests.
However, injuries to Jofra Archer and Olly Stone mean he is the only bowler with real pace that England can call on.
With spinner Jack Leach enduring a chastening experience at the Gabba, he was dropped for the second Test and England opted for a four-man seam attack of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes.
As a result, England were lacking variation in their attack, with all-rounder Ben Stokes bowling sustained spells of short stuff to offer a point of difference.
Ponting believes Wood should have been picked for the second Test, stating he would have been a better option than the "ineffective" Woakes.
Speaking to cricket.com.au, Ponting said: "It looked to me as if Stokes was given one job, to run in and bowl bouncers ball after ball.
"When he finally got the chance to bowl at a new batsman and pitch the ball he got a wicket second ball to [Cameron] Green.
"Woakes was ineffective again – I'm not sure why they bothered picking him in Adelaide when they've got Wood there.
"To me Wood would have given them a lot more variation in their attack and then Stokes could have pitched it up and bowled like a normal seamer, which he's good at, and Wood could have taken the role Stokes had.
"That's up for them – they've got their own think tank and the ways they think about the game and what they want to get out of their players.
"But it looked like after Plan A didn't work, they didn't have much after that."
