Ponting rested or forced to stay out of team?

[King]

Why didn't the selectors rest him prior to the start of the series? If Australia had won, would they have rested Ponting? I don't think so. Looks like the losses have been hurting the team and the captain quite badly. Rightly so. Ponting has lost in India, lost to South Africa at home in both ODIs and test series. Now the loss to New Zealand. If he was captain of any other side he would probably have been dropped. Unfortunately Australia doesn't boast captaincy material or experienced players. It sounds like Australia wants to breed a new captain. I think they should do that quickly, Ponting seems to run out of ideas these days and his body language sucks. When things aren't going his way, he drops shoulders quite badly and looks defeated. Imagine if Clarke wins the next 4 ODIs :nervous: http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,24993860-23212,00.html?from=public_rss

Australia captain Ricky Ponting to put his feet up after tough schedule By Peter Lalor February 02, 2009 A CAPTAIN is supposed to stay with a sinking ship, but Ricky Ponting will not play against New Zealand this Friday and may be out of the side for the rest of the series. The selectors have decided to rest Australia's skipper for at least the next three games, fearing he will either drown on the deck or die of exhaustion from the constant call to man the pumps. Ponting, 33, has played a herculean role, carrying the side through the summer, and is one of only two players who have not had a break in the busy schedule. His physical workload has been exacerbated by the strains of captaincy during the team's below-average performances. Australia has had losses to India in the Test series and South Africa in a Test and one-day series. Sunday's dismal top-order effort against New Zealand follows two equally poor games against South Africa and indicates the ship may not be sinking so much as sunk. Ponting looked tired in the game and fell victim to an error of judgment that caused him to be run out for 5. Michael Clarke, who was resting an injured thumb, was rushed back to Perth to join the squad ahead of schedule because the South African series was in the balance. He will take over the captain's role in Ponting's absence. Clarke has failed in both games since returning but will be in good company, with no Australian batsman showing any capacity to score runs consistently. Dave Warner has apparently snuck into the side under false pretences or is a ring-in. Hired to get the game off to a good start, he has pushed the ball around in the past two innings and failed to do the job expected of him. He scored 7 off 18 balls on Sunday. Fellow opener Shaun Marsh has fared a little better, but looks likely to miss the rest of the series after apparently tearing a hamstring. David Hussey has not passed 50 since the first game against South Africa and was unlucky to be given out caught tickling a delivery down leg. In the past, when Clarke and Ponting have been missing, Michael Hussey has stood in as captain but he, too, has not had a break and there is thought among the selectors that a rest may improve his form, although he has batted well in the past two games in Perth. "We are discussing Ricky having a break at the moment," chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said. "The reality is if he doesn't have a break now, he won't get one until the end of the South African tour, so I think a break is quite likely. "It's been pretty hard on him since India - it's been a long stint. Ricky wanted to play the entire South African series for obvious reasons, so if there is going to be a break, it will be against New Zealand." Ponting probably would have missed the first game against New Zealand on Sunday but as he was in Perth, team management decided it was best for him to remain and play. He will fly to Melbourne with the squad for the Allan Border Medal on Tuesday but fly home to Sydney before Friday's game in Melbourne. Ponting has played four Tests against India, two against New Zealand, three against South Africa, two international Twenty20 matches and six one-day matches since October last year. The Australians played nine Tests in 10 weeks before the start of the 10-match one-day series. The team will be away for more than 300 days this year. Immediately after the NZ series, it will fly to South Africa for three Tests and five one-dayers and then there is a five-game one-day series against Pakistan at a venue to be confirmed. Most players may then take two weeks to fulfil their contracts with the IPL before heading straight to England for a three-month stretch that includes the Twenty20 world cup, five Ashes Tests and a one-day series. There would be pressure on Ponting to return for the last one-dayer against NZ in this series if it is in the balance. He may have to find another break before the Ashes and the series against Pakistan seems to be the obvious period for a rest. Ponting captains all three Australia teams and poses a real problem for CA when it comes to finding an appropriate time for him to rest. The dangers of pushing players too hard is obvious, with injuries costing the team dearly across the summer. Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson and Clarke have all been unavailable at critical times. Last year, the Indians' crowded schedule resulted in captain MS Dhoni being rested from a Test series against Sri Lanka, although he was not captain of the Test team at that time. Ponting had a major operation on his wrist after the West Indies Test series and has batted with pain during the summer, but has managed to play more cricket than almost every other senior Australian player. Even South African coach Mickey Arthur has noted how crowded the calendar is. "I honestly don't know who agreed to that schedule. It is really, really tough," Arthur said. "They're going to be playing some hard cricket, then they get on a plane and come to us. "I would have thought that they would have tried to push for a break. "It's going to be quite a tough series; New Zealand are fighters. "They are going to be on the road consistently for such long periods now that they're going to have to manage injuries, they're going to have to manage workload."

[Sachinism]

Hopefully they will continue to get their asses whooped and then they'll have no player to turn to for captaincy

[fineleg]

Go NZ - cmon win the series. Bloody Aus should be humiliated.

[flamy]

PWNTed

[The Outsider]

Well he does average a healthy 25 from his last 19 ODI matches, so I guess he does deserve a break.

[SachDan]

Well he does average a healthy 25 from his last 19 ODI matches' date=' so I guess he does deserve a break.[/quote'] :cantstop::cantstop:

[EnterTheVoid]

he needs a rest, ......... ........ so he can play in the IPL

[Feed]

Should he be resting? Former Test captain Steve Waugh says critics are right to question the decision to rest Ricky Ponting for the next two one-day internationals against New Zealand. More... Steve Waugh questions decision to rest skipper AAP February 02, 2009 06:41pm FORMER Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh warns that Ricky Ponting is opening himself up to "question marks" by taking a break. Ponting will be rested from the next two one-day matches against New Zealand after featuring in every game this summer. Waugh stressed it was a personal choice for Ponting to take some time out, but pointed out that international players are taking advantage of more opportunities. "(With) the players choosing to play the IPL and choosing all these other opportunities, there's got to be question marks thrown up when people say they want to rest," Waugh said. "They're committing to play more cricket. "Really, Ricky is the only one who can answer that - is he mentally and physically fatigued, is he better off having a couple of games (out), will he come back fresher and stronger for the team?" It is a novel question for Waugh to consider, because he was loathe to rest when he led the team. "I really don't know, because I think as a captain I didn't rest, so we didn't really throw that scenario up," he said. "I'm not really sure who has the ultimate decision." Waugh is more confident that young New South Wales opener Phil Hughes has done enough to justify selection for the South Africa tour. Again, Waugh was quick to say there were several strong contenders for an opening batsman spot. But he likes Hughes' ability so far to perform under pressure. "He's much more ready to play at 20 than I was, looking at the way he plays the game," Waugh said. "He's got fantastic temperament ... that, at the top level, is probably the main ingedient. "I think he's got the goods. "They wouldn't be doing anything wrong by picking him ... I'd pick him."

[Feed]

Ricky Ponting responds to criticism, saying he doesn't want to rest AUSTRALIA cricket captain Ricky Ponting will "reluctantly" miss the next two Chappell-Hadlee Trophy matches against New Zealand, saying the decision was made by the selectors alone. More... Ricky Ponting responds to criticism, saying he doesn't want to rest By Roger Vaughan February 02, 2009 AUSTRALIA cricket captain Ricky Ponting will "reluctantly" miss the next two Chappell-Hadlee Trophy matches against New Zealand, saying the decision was made by the selectors alone. Former captain Steve Waugh believes Ponting is opening himself to "question marks" by not playing in the matches, but Ponting has says he wanted to keep playing. Ponting has played throughout the summer and chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said it was "always planned" for Ponting to have a short spell now. "My absolute priority is to the Australian cricket team," Ponting said. "I wanted to play on through the coming week and continue to lead the team in the series against New Zealand. However, the decision was made by the national selection panel as part of their plan to rest all players at appropriate times during this year. "I have reluctantly accepted their decision and will be eagerly awaiting my return to the team." Waugh said on Monday that international players were taking advantage of more opportunities and had to be careful in taking breaks from national duty. "(With) the players choosing to play the (Indian Premier League) and choosing all these other opportunities, there's got to be question marks thrown up when people say they want to rest," Waugh said. "They're committing to play more cricket. "Really, Ricky is the only one who can answer that. "Is he mentally and physically fatigued? Is he better off having a couple of games (out)? Will he come back fresher and stronger for the team?'' It is a novel question for Waugh to consider, because he was loath to rest. "I really don't know because I think as a captain I didn't rest, so we didn't really throw that scenario up," he said. "I'm not really sure who has the ultimate decision." AAP

[Anakin]

Well he does average a healthy 25 from his last 19 ODI matches' date=' so I guess he does deserve a break.[/quote'] :--D:--D:--D:--D

[Sachinism]

what does dsr think of Ponting resting

[Ram]

Very unusual for a captain to be rested, especially when his team just lost a home test and ODI series, losts its no.1 ODI ranking and then lost the 1st match of a new series. Besides, the Aussie batting has been in doldrums. Even during the Saffies series, when the openers gave decent starts, the middle order foundered badly. Given all this, to rest one of the better performing middle order batsman is quite strange.