Ricky Ponting: Stuart Broad and James Anderson will pose a threat in Ashes despite their recent decline

Former Australian batsman Ricky Ponting feels that the England pacers James Anderson and Stuart Broad will be a huge threat in the upcoming Ashes. Though he had earlier mentioned that the duo had started to decline, he feels that the conditions will help them and they can be tough to navigate. 

"I probably said they were (on the decline) leading into the Australian series a couple of years ago," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "I felt then that they were starting to taper off.

"But the one thing about them is that when they get the right conditions, they are awesome still. Even if their pace is not quite as good as it was, if that ball starts swinging in the right conditions, they're an absolute handful.

"We saw that a couple of times in Australia (in 2017) … at Adelaide when the Aussies went out to bat with that pink ball under lights, they swung it around corners.

“They seemed to be a little bit off in flatter conditions in Brisbane, but as soon as the ball started moving, then they're as good as anybody.

"So I'm not going to say that they're past their best or they're tapering off because the one thing you don't do with world-class players is ever write them off."

Ponting adds that the form of Broad and Anderson in the past has dictated how England has fared in the recent Test series'.

“They'll always find a way, and Broad and Anderson have been two of the best fast bowlers in the world for a long time now.

"Certainly, in the last four or five or six Ashes series, they've had a huge input in the way those series have gone.

“When they've bowled well, they've generally won. And when teams have been able to play well against them, England have struggled to win."

The former Australian captain also stated that focusing only on tests will work for them. 

"I think it (focusing only on Tests) is an advantage for Anderson and Broad. It definitely is. We've got our guys traveling all around the world playing white-ball cricket with a big focus on trying to win the World Cup and then in a couple of weeks' time we've got to switch over and be ready for an Ashes Test.

"So, there's certainly some challenges there for the Australian group and less challenges for the English group."

The first Ashes Test game begins from August 1.