<p>Ponting, who has been booed by England supporters during the Ashes series, felt a line had been crossed from goodhearted pantomime-like booing when a spectator at Edgbaston on Sunday abused him as he returned to the pavilion after he had been bowled by Graeme Swann for five.<br /><br />“There were some words exchanged,” Ponting told reporters at Headingley. “The spectator was actually leaning over the front of the grandstand and gave me a bit of a gob-full as I got out. He was later thrown out of the ground so it would appear he was in the wrong doing what he did.<br /><br />“It’s probably a security thing more than anything else. Where we had to walk on and off was in vicinity of a lot of spectators. If there was one place in world where a security guy should have been standing it was right there where that spectator was so it could have been avoided,” Ponting added.<br /><br />However, Ponting said he is enjoying the competition and especially the friendly banter with the supporters.<br /><br />England’s more vocal fans known as the Barmy Army, which has actually become a travel company, are appreciated by Australia’s players, Ponting said, as he attempted to play down the latest incident. <br /><br />“(The barracking) is part and parcel of what we do, it happens everywhere around the world,” Ponting said. “I’ve enjoyed a lot of the spectator participation in the series. The Barmy Army are, as I have always said, the best group of sports supporters in any sport that I’ve seen around the world.”</p>
<p>Ponting, who has been booed by England supporters during the Ashes series, felt a line had been crossed from goodhearted pantomime-like booing when a spectator at Edgbaston on Sunday abused him as he returned to the pavilion after he had been bowled by Graeme Swann for five.<br /><br />“There were some words exchanged,” Ponting told reporters at Headingley. “The spectator was actually leaning over the front of the grandstand and gave me a bit of a gob-full as I got out. He was later thrown out of the ground so it would appear he was in the wrong doing what he did.<br /><br />“It’s probably a security thing more than anything else. Where we had to walk on and off was in vicinity of a lot of spectators. If there was one place in world where a security guy should have been standing it was right there where that spectator was so it could have been avoided,” Ponting added.<br /><br />However, Ponting said he is enjoying the competition and especially the friendly banter with the supporters.<br /><br />England’s more vocal fans known as the Barmy Army, which has actually become a travel company, are appreciated by Australia’s players, Ponting said, as he attempted to play down the latest incident. <br /><br />“(The barracking) is part and parcel of what we do, it happens everywhere around the world,” Ponting said. “I’ve enjoyed a lot of the spectator participation in the series. The Barmy Army are, as I have always said, the best group of sports supporters in any sport that I’ve seen around the world.”</p>
