Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has revealed he was approached about the England Test coaching role before Brendon McCullum.
England’s Test team underwent a drastic overhaul last year – head coach Chris Silverwood, batting mentor Graham Thorpe and managing director Ashley Giles lost their jobs after the embarrassing 4-0 series defeat in Australia, while Joe Root stood down as captain.
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Rob Key took over as the ECB’s director of men’s cricket in April 2022, appointing former New Zealand wicketkeeper McCullum as the new Test coach the following month. England has won 11 of their 14 Tests under McCullum’s guidance, including a remarkable 3-0 series whitewash in Pakistan.
However, Ponting confessed that Key contacted him about the vacancy before McCullum, revealing why he turned down the opportunity. The 48-year-old has coached the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League and assisted former Australian coach Justin Langer during the 2019 World Cup in England.
“I actually got asked before Brendon took the job,” Ponting told Guerilla Cricket this week.
“I did take some calls from Robert Key as soon as he took over that job. But I’m just not ready for a full-time international coaching job, where I’m at in my life. Having travelled as much as I have, with young kids now I just don’t want to be away as much as I was.
“And even talking to Brendon, his family is only just arriving today. When you’ve got kids that are in school, moving them around, that’s not what I want to do.”
Ponting was dragged into the spotlight this week after England bowler Ollie Robinson singled out the Australian cricket legend in a press conference during the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston.
When queried about his infamous send-off for Australian centurion Usman Khawaja on Sunday, Robinson told reporters: “We‘ve all seen Ricky Ponting and other Aussies do the same to us, and just because the shoe is on the other foot it’s not received well.”
Ponting, who commentated for Sky Sports during the Edgbaston Test, returned serve after England’s thrilling two-wicket defeat.
“As I said after Ollie Robinson said what he said, this England cricket team hasn‘t played against Australia and they’ll find out pretty quickly what playing Ashes cricket and playing against a good Australian cricket team is all about,” Ponting told the ICC Review podcast.
“And if Ollie Robinson hasn‘t learned that already after last week, then he’s a slow learner.
“Some of the things he had to say – I mean he even brought my name into it, which I felt was a little bit unusual, but for me it‘s water off a duck’s back.
“If he is sitting back thinking about me, then no wonder he bowled like the way that he did in that game, if he‘s worried about what I did 15 years ago.
“He‘ll learn pretty quickly that if you’re going to talk to Australian cricketers in an Ashes series, then you want to be able to back it up with your skills.”
The second Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway at Lord’s on Wednesday.