'Got me going': Why Ricky Ponting fired up during 'embarrassing' Archer-Smith spat

When Jofra Archer and Steve Smith were going at it in the final hour of the Brisbane Test, no one was more engaged with the banter than former Australian captain Ricky Ponting.

Smith 'champed' Archer, telling him he bowls fastest when the game is already over, while the Englishman critiqued the Aussie's overly attacking batting while chasing 60-odd runs.

As the pair went at it, Ponting followed suit on commentary for Channel Seven.

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"Jofra's finally come to life. When the second Test match is gone he starts chirping. Too late for that, champ," he said.

"That's what Smithy said to him as well. Bowling quick now when the game's over, good onya. Now they're all getting started. Too late boys.

"You've had your chance for four days. Haven't been good enough, too late to start."

Now a week later, Ponting has doubled down on his heat-of-the-moment criticism of Archer and England chirping up with the result determined.

The legendary Aussie batsman admitted that the banter had him missing his time in the middle.

"When I 'championed' him, I could actually hear what Steve Smith had said to him in the stump mic," Ponting told SEN.

"Smithy said champion, and then that's just what came out of my mouth, but it just got me going and got the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

"There haven't been many games that I've commentated that I wish I was back playing again. But I wish I was out there the other night as part of that, because that's what you miss and that's what it's all about.

"But look, for Jofra, he just embarrassed himself, and he embarrassed his team the other night, that's what I make of that.

"To bowl his fastest spell ever in Test cricket, when Australia's chasing 60 … it has been there the whole time, it's been up his sleeve, and England have needed him to do it, and he hasn't been willing to do it.

"Day 3, when they needed him to do it, he rocks up with his pillow under his arm, and that was always going to be a bad day for England from that moment.

"As soon as anyone saw that it was going to be 'OK, there's their mindset for the day. They're just going to rock up and Australia's going to fall over and we'll bowl them out'.

"Well, that doesn't happen against Australia, it doesn't happen in Ashes cricket."

Now that he's shown that he can bowl over 150km when he's fired up, Ponting has put the onus well and truly on Archer to bring that level of fire with him to day one of the Adelaide Test.

"But now that England know that he can do it, then how can he not rock out and do that first morning in Adelaide? He has to do that now, that's if in fact they haven't had enough," Ponting said.

"Maybe what they saw the other day was just the straw that broke the camel's back, and it's, 'if he's not willing to do it for the team, thenw we'll find someone else that will', who knows.

"They've got lots of questions that need to be answered, but for Stokes, he must sit back and think, 'Oh my god, where has that been? Why haven't you been able to do that for me for the last four days that we've been in the field?'.

"So, yep, there's a bit of soul searching, and I'm sure some pretty stern conversations have probably already been had around that dressing room."

Archer and England will hope to make amends for two subpar performances in Adelaide for the third Ashes Test.