
Australia Captain, Ricky Ponting has hit out at what he percieved as blatant gamesmanship by England, in the Ashes first test at Cardiff.
England earned a draw after Monty Panesar and James Anderson played out the last 69 balls with tactics that Ponting viewed as delibertaely timewasting.
"They can play whatever way they want to play. We have come to play by the rules and the spirit of the game and it is up to them to do whatever they want to do." fumed Ponting.
With Australia running out of time to claim the final wicket, England sent on their 12th man, Bilal Shafayat, to give Anderson some new gloves.
He was swiftly followed by physio Steve McCaig, who was angrily asked to leave the pitch by the agitated Australians.
England Captain Andrew Strauss rejected Ponting's view;
"Our intentions were good so we weren't delibertaely trying to waste a huge amount of time. That wasn't our tactics, those two (Pansear and Anderson) were playing pretty well so the reality of the situation is Australia didn't take that final wicket and we got away with a draw."
Despite venting his frustration with England's tactics, Ponting also admitted his side had not done enough to take the test;
"Our bowlers tried valiantly, right through the game there wasn't much assistance in the wicket. Everyone tried their hardest but we just came up a little bit short."
The Ahses continues with the 2nd Test at Lord's, on Friday.
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