Legendary Australia cricketer Ricky Ponting slammed Jofra Archer for trying to get on Steve Smith's nerves with the match already well beyond England. This comes after Archer and Smith were involved in a war of words during the fourth day of the Brisbane Test. The verbal spat didn't quite go in Archer's favour as Smith went on to score a boundary and six each after the exchange.
Ponting remarked that Archer only got into his rhythm with the result of the match already decided. He further said that bowling fast won't do him any good with Australia being on the verge of victory.
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“I like it, I like it. Jofra’s finally come to life, six days into the series, when the second Test match is gone — he starts chirping. Too late for that, champ. That’s what Smithy said to him as well, ‘Bowling quick now, mate, when the game is over — good on ya’,” Ponting said while commentating on Channel 7.
“Now they’ve all started. Too late, boys. You’ve had your chance for four days. You haven’t been good enough, (and) it’s too late to start,” he added.
The spat between Archer and Smith
Notably, with Australia cruising towards the victory in Brisbane, Archer took a jibe at Smith and tried to rile him up in the closing moments of the game. “You only play those shots when there’s not much on the score, mate,” Archer said to Smith. The Australia didn't take these comments kindly and snapped back at the pacer stating, “[You only] Bowl fast when there’s nothing going on, champion."
Australia take formidable lead in the series
Meanwhile, Australia went on to win the second Ashes Test comfortably by eight wickets. It was a brilliant all-round perfformance from the hosts, who allowed the visitors to hand them a total of just 65 runs and chased it down in 10 overs. This win saw them take a comprehensive 2-0 lead in the series and they are currently looking to be in prime position to retain the Ashes.