Ricky Ponting lauds England star Ben Stokes for 'proactive captaincy'

Former Australia captain spoke to the ICC during Day 3 of the first Ashes Test of the series, heaping praise on the attacking approach Ben Stokes has instilled in the English side.

"It's hard to keep up with them all, he's making a change almost every ball, which is great, it's proactive captaincy," said Ponting.

"He's always trying to move the game forward, he's looking at any little way that he possibly can to pick up a wicket and change the momentum of the game."

This was emphasized when Stokes set an unconventional field for set batsman Usman Khawaja, which was followed by his dismissal as he tried to heave the ball above the packed inner field, only to be yorked by Ollie Robinson for 141.

"With Khawaja's innings, I'd hate to try and count how many times he changed the field for him and how many bowling changes and tactical changes he made to try and get Khawaja out - and then it finally worked," added the legendary Aussie number three.

"I don't think I've ever seen a field like that in Test cricket before. There was just an umbrella of fielders around in front of the batsman's face. And it was all about bowling a couple of slower balls and being able to bowl a yorker. And sure enough, Khawaja used his feet, gave himself some room, gave up his stumps, and the yorker knocked his off stump out of the ground," he added.

"It's fantastic stuff. It's really refreshing for the Test game to see a team play this way and a captain happy to try everything he possibly can."

England head into Day 4 with a 35-run lead despite ending Day 3 on 28/2 after losing a pair of late wickets with both new batsmen Ollie Pope and Joe Root yet to get off the mark.