Ponting calls time on England tactics

Australia captain Ricky Ponting was incensed by England's delaying tactics as they saved the first Ashes Test in Cardiff with final pair James Anderson and Monty Panesar at the crease.

Twice during a 69-ball stand of defiance, England 12th man Bilal Shafayat ran onto the field to offer Anderson batting gloves while physio Steve McCaig was ushered off by the disgruntled Australians on the second occasion, having made it all the way to the middle.

With every second crucial in England's bid to run down the clock given their narrow lead and Australia attempting to send down as many overs as possible in the final hour, relations between the sides deteriorated with Ponting blasting his opponents' behaviour.

"I don't think that was required," Ponting said. "He had changed his gloves the over before and his glove is not going to be too sweaty in one over.

"I am not sure what the physio was doing out there - I didn't see him call for any physio to come out.

"As far as I am concerned it was pretty ordinary, actually.

"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 what they want to do."

However, although Ponting urged others to take note of England's conduct, he did not want to take the matter further as captain of Australia.

"I was unhappy with it but I don't want to make that big a deal about it," he said.

"I am sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy as they should.

"But it is not the reason we didn't win. I won't think about it again when we leave here."

Two other conflicts earlier in the day suggested things were on the verge of boiling over.

In the warm-ups, England batsman Kevin Pietersen and Mitchell Johnson got in a heated exchange and Stuart Broad and Peter Siddle were involved in an on-field altercation.

However, Ponting played down the significance of each exchange.

Of the pre-play clash, he said: "It was a case of a few guys on the ground taking each others' space."

Umpire Billy Doctrove addressed the physical contact, which occurred when Broad was running past bowler Siddle.

"He handled it and got on top of it pretty quickly," Ponting said. "I don't think it was that significant and if there had been anything in it I would have been spoken to on the field. It was probably accidental. Move on. It was a great game of cricket and we should be remembering that."

Ponting praised the contribution of Paul Collingwood, who defied Australia for almost six hours to make 74.

Ponting said: "He did exactly what was required for his team.

"He gave himself every opportunity to do the best job he could.

"It shows a lot of character for someone like that to take the majority of the bowling through the course of the afternoon.

"He deserves a pat on the back. Without his innings England would have been in a whole lot of trouble."