Ponting says security lapse caused clash with fan

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.

“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.

“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.

However, Ponting said he is enjoying the competition and especially the friendly banter with the supporters.

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.

“(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.”