Ponting, Haddin scare England with '5-0 whitewash' verdict after Ben Stokes' 'surprising' Ashes wish

The third cycle of the World Test Championship begins from June 16 onwards in England where Ben Stokes-led side hosts the newly-crowned champions Australia. The five-match series will begin with the opener in Edgbaston and the final tie at The Oval starting July 26. Ahead of the big contest, England skipper Ben Stokes made a rather "surprising" wish on Ashes, pertaining to the wickets, but the remark led to former Australia cricketers Ricky Ponting and Brad Haddin to scare the home team with "whitewash" verdict.

In April, before heading to India for the 2023 season of the IPL, Stokes revealed that he wishes for "fast and flat wickets" for the Ashes series which could aid the England-style of Test cricket, better known as Bazball. According to CricViz, the average seam movement in England last year was just 0.56, the lowest in the nation in last seven years. England won seven of the eight Tests they played at home in 2022.

“We’ve been very clear with the ground staff around England about what type of wickets we want and they’ve been very responsive to us, which is good,” Stokes had told Sky Sports. “We want fast, flat wickets. We want to go out there and score quickly. I’m smiling because I’m looking forward to it.”

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Ponting however feels that Stokes' plan could backfire as it would leave absolutely nothing for their pacer attack.

“If (England) have the flatter wickets with the smaller boundaries, it might just backfire on the bowling group,” Ponting said last week. “(Stuart) Broad, (James) Anderson and (Ollie) Robinson are going to want pitches that offer them something. If they don’t, let’s see how they go against the Aussie batters.”

Former Australia wicketkeeper-batter Haddin feels that it could lead to a stunning start to Australia's title-defence campaign with a 5-0 away win.

“What I find interesting with the 5-0, and it could happen, England want wickets that are nice and flat so it comes onto the bat,” he said on The Back Page. “I think the only they can win it is if they get overhead conditions and a bit of life in the wicket. If they get the wickets they they’re after, I think Australia can win 5-0."

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, who is available for selection after missing out the WTC final against India last week, admitted that he was left "surprised" at Stokes' wish. “They come to Australia and the wickets are harder, flatter and faster, and we’ve seen the results,” Hazlewood told AAP earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a few days back, fans got the first glimpse of the Edgbaston track and Australian coach Andrew McDonald described it as a “fast English type surface”.