Ricky Ponting: I said 2-1 to Australia at the start of the Ashes and nothing has changed for me

Australia may have suffered an agonising defeat in the First Test but Ricky Ponting feels no need to change his forecast about who will hold the urn at the end of the series.

Ponting might well have been in Nottingham leading the ­Aussies in an Ashes series for one last time. Six months ago that thought did cross his mind before he opted to stick to his original decision to retire from international cricket.