Ricky Ponting England's last-wicket pair of Monty Panesar and Jimmy Anderson were batting to save the match. Ponting could only manage two and 38, as Australia were defeated in the second Test at Lord's—their first Test defeat at the venue since 1934. On 31 July, during the Third Test at Edgbaston, Ponting became the highest Australian run-scorer in the history of Test cricket, overtaking former Australian captain Allan Border's total of 11,174 in his first-innings score of 38. The match was eventually drawn, partly due to poor weather. Australia went on to lose the series 2–1 and Ponting became only the third
Ricky Ponting Ponting would be more effective against England's pace-oriented bowling attack. However, Ponting struggled in the first three Tests, scoring 47 runs at 11.75, and Lehmann regained his spot for the last two matches. He had played 22 Tests by the end of 1998, with 1,209 runs at an average of 36.63. Ponting was a permanent fixture in the ODI team throughout this period, and scored 322 runs at 46.00 during the Carlton & United (CUB series) series of 1998–99. During the CUB series, Ponting was involved in a fight outside a pub in Kings Cross, New South Wales, and earned