Akshat Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 There's a plan, so enjoy the journey Ricky Ponting | February 04, 2009 Article from: The Australian ONE-DAY games and series come and go pretty quickly and while our current results have been disappointing everybody has to understand there is a long-term plan in place and things can change quickly. Even now we are working toward the 2011 World Cup, blooding players, testing tactics and finding out who performs under pressure. Australia has not lost a game at the past two World Cups and that didn't happen by accident, but I wonder if anybody remembers the 2007 one-day series against New Zealand over there. I didn't go because my back was playing up. Adam Gilchrist had a rest, which attracted a bit of comment at the time and Michael Hussey was handed the captaincy. It was a time when people like Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait and Mitchell Johnson were given a chance to show what they had. It was also a time when players like Hussey and Michael Clarke were expected to take on more of a leadership role. The results weren't flash. We lost 3-0 and it was right on the eve of the World Cup. I remember the criticism of the team and the speculation about whether Gilly and I should have been rested, but it was part of a plan to ensure our better players, or more experienced players, were ready for the big tournament. We're a bit further out from the World Cup right at the moment, but it's a similar situation. There's been criticism about me not playing the next few games and I was probably the person who was most reluctant about it, but it's all about the bigger picture and making sure that when the South African Test series starts I am as fit, mentally and physically, as I can possibly be. A lot of planning has gone into this decision, just as there was before we decided to rest Mitchell Johnson for the start of the one-day series. It's not an easy thing to miss games for Australia, but hopefully it ends up being a positive thing for the team. If you look at any time I've ever rested and any time Gilly has ever rested you will see our performances have been good when we came back. The other side of it is the young blokes getting a chance, and it has been a long time since so many new players were brought into the team in a 12-month period. Already you have Callum Ferguson and Voges coming into the squad for the next game and that presents them with a great opportunity. It also gives us an opportunity to look at them with 2011 in mind. It is progression planning and something we take very seriously. People have to be a little patient with some of the younger players. They are long-term investments. Shaun Marsh and David Warner are learning on the job. Everybody can see what enormous talent they have, but in this game there are going to be steps forward and steps backward. You only have to look at the early careers of people like me, Andrew Symonds, Clarke as examples of that. Few people arrive at international level fully formed. Obviously, we have been disappointed with the standard of play we have produced, especially in the past two games and even more so in the last one against New Zealand, but that is guys learning for themselves what it takes to be good international players. There's no doubt that Marsh, Warner, David Hussey, Cameron White and those guys all have the ability to become very good international players but they need the experience and the opportunities to have those real break-out performances. Symonds had been in and out of the side for almost four years before he arrived with that incredible 143 not out against Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup. The younger blokes now need the patience and chance to prove they can achieve those results and once they have proven that to themselves they won't look back. There's nearly 80 one-day games between now and the next World Cup so that means somebody coming into the squad has the opportunity to gain loads of experience before the tournament. Fans need to show patience at a time like this, but I know from years of watching AFL that teams in a rebuilding phase can give you great satisfaction. There is something about watching young people play their first games, learning the ropes and finding their feet that is fascinating. It's a journey for player and spectator. And captain. Everyone expected us to win the game in Perth the other night and that is fair enough, but I tell myself it is not all bad that we lost. In the process the young guys have learnt a lot. When you lose you tend to examine everything you did more closely and that has long-term benefits. You learn more from a tight loss than an easy win, so that game the other night will have positive benefits down the track, hopefully as soon as the next game. ___________________________________________ Is this another series of excuses that Ponting is trying to list for the failure of his team?:hmmm: Link to comment
cochise Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 It has gone from "We play to win" to "We play to win eventually in the long-term...we are happy enough learning from losses now...fascinating watching young people... blah blah blah" Hat's off to the spin. If only he was as good a captain as he is a spin-merchant, Oz would be better placed. Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Baldrick: I have a cunning plan! Link to comment
cochise Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Baldrick: I have a cunning plan! Yes indeed! Let's bowl Hussey to speed up the over rate! Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I take it you're also a fan of the show cochise. The similarity in intellectual capacity is astounding. The only difference is that Baldrick is entertaining and likeable, and Ponting is not. Link to comment
cochise Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I take it you're also a fan of the show cochise. The similarity in intellectual capacity is astounding. The only difference is that Baldrick is entertaining and likeable, and Ponting is not. Indeed I am...seen all the series years ago...been a while though. And yes, the similarity is there...well spotted! Ponting can be entertaining too...when the sheepish look comes on his face after all his plans go haywire and he is confused by it. Link to comment
Show_stopper Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hi.. this is Pr!icky Ponting and this is my @ss talking.. Link to comment
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 lay off ponting, ya hobos. The constant pessimism / negativity / conspiracy theories directed towards Ricky Ponting when he's going through a rough patch is cowardly and shameless at best. good article and a good read nevertheless Link to comment
Show_stopper Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Can't say the arrogant jerk didn't deserve it. Good article? yeah right..a turnip would grasp the situation faster than this guy!! He said after the Ind series defeat that..we weren't goo enough but there is a plan in place blah blah..i believe we can still win all games this summer etc.. They beat up a weak Kiwi side in tests and the next thing we know is he is off being the arrogant twit that he is..then came royal thrashing(even then he doesn't acknowledge the true gulf in the class between the sides mind you.Sa beat them comprehensively in Test series.)Odis the same old story.Even the kiwis managed to beat them in the opening game!! I'm afraid i don't buy this BS from Pwnting anymore.Time to wake up Pr!cky. Link to comment
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^ An arrogant jerk he maybe, but this Annoying Tasmanian Midget (ATM; You paying attention, Salil?) led Australia to two consecutive world cups without conceding a single match. Let India win a world cup before we start undermining the achievements of Ponting, a true great in my opinion The man has so much on his plate and yet, he insists on playing for his country instead of cowering like a coward basking in self pity and past glories. This guy has earned my grudging respect after his innings in the 2003 wc final Link to comment
cochise Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 lay off ponting, ya hobos. The constant pessimism / negativity / conspiracy theories directed towards Ricky Ponting when he's going through a rough patch is cowardly and shameless at best. Who says it's only when he is in a rough patch? I have felt the same way about him when he is on top or on the bottom and I am not going to put on an act for your sensibilites or his or any other clowns...so just mind what assumptions you make. I have always felt he is a great batsman but an awful captain and sportsman. And his current form or the form or status of his team is not going to change my appraisal of him. Only his actions can do that, whether they win or lose. I see no signs of change in him yet to force a reappraisal. Link to comment
punjabi_khota Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^ An arrogant jerk he maybe, but this Annoying Tasmanian Midget (ATM; You paying attention, Salil?) led Australia to two consecutive world cups without conceding a single match. Let India win a world cup before we start undermining the achievements of Ponting, a true great in my opinion The man has so much on his plate and yet, he insists on playing for his country instead of cowering like a coward basking in self pity and past glories. This guy has earned my grudging respect after his innings in the 2003 wc final All gloves were off after seeing him and his hobos jumping like mad monkeys after the farcical vicotry at Sydney 07. That was the final straw. And see how their fortunes have dwindled after that. :hysterical::hysterical: I will take every opportunity to maul this mofo. Link to comment
flamy Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Who says it's only when he is in a rough patch? I have felt the same way about him when he is on top or on the bottom and I am not going to put on an act for your sensibilites or his or any other clowns...so just mind what assumptions you make. I have always felt he is a great batsman but an awful captain and sportsman. And his current form or the form or status of his team is not going to change my appraisal of him. Only his actions can do that, whether they win or lose. I see no signs of change in him yet to force a reappraisal. excellent reply. PWNTING deserves everything that is happening to him. Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 ^^ An arrogant jerk he maybe' date=' but this Annoying Tasmanian Midget (ATM; You paying attention, Salil?) led Australia to two consecutive world cups without conceding a single match.l[/quote'] Like cochise, I've had this same opinion of Ponting. (Heck, if you ever read the VTCB you'll find a ton of posts from me going back over the last 4-5 years slaughtering Ponting's captaincy, thought processes frequently, his decision making and willingness to take risks when under the cosh.) I'll grant him his success, but he's largely been the benefactor of some outstanding players who matured under the captaincies of Waugh and Taylor and barely needed captaining. Warne and McGrath developed under Taylor's captaincy (and similarly gave Waugh a relatively easy job quite often), Gillespie developed under Waugh and by the time Ponting took over the hardest decisions he often needed to make was deciding which bowler to give the ball to as all would deliver. McGrath, Warne, Gillespie, Langer, Gilchrist and co. were all outstanding cricketers that didn't need captaining - all had fantastic cricketing brains, offered a lot of valuable inputs that aided Ponting when he captained the test/ODI side. When RTP came to the captaincy he had a settled, dominant team that basically functioned on cruise control with lots of experience. Bat first, Hayden/Ponting/Langer/Martyn/etc would make a ton of runs and the bowlers would then take wickets. Bowl first, McGrath and Gillespie would frequently take early wickets, Lee would provide support and Warne or MacGill would cash in before the batsmen then took charge. Things like McGrath's demolition jobs, Warne's tactical masterstrokes and such had nothing to do with Ponting, he happened to be in the right place in charge of a team with cricketers who could walk into any XI, and in Warne's case who could be inspired and inspiring leaders of any team. When he was actually CHALLENGED - players being injured and losing form as in the 05 Ashes, his captaincy was found wanting. He went by paint-the-numbers captaincy, incapable of taking gambles or making hard decisions, and the same thing has shown for a long time since - look at how reluctant he was to pick MacGill in the 05 Ashes (a decision that IMO cost Australia the series), or how completely lacking and defensive his leadership was in India. (Heck even on the last tour to India, the team dominated under Gilchrist's captaincy in the first 3 tests - when Punter came back he made the glorious decision of calling a heavy roller on a cracking pitch that made it even worse and was in charge for a brilliant collapse.) I'm with cochise here - a fabulous batsman and one of the best we've seen this generation. His record with the bat is outstanding in pressure matches like the 03 WC final and in most conditions, and he's a world class fielder too (which he doesn't get that much credit for). But his captaincy has been overrated and largely a function of having some absolutely brilliant players in his team for a while. When given a team not filled with a few contenders for All-time XIs, his leadership flaws are much clearer now. Link to comment
satishg Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Who says it's only when he is in a rough patch? I have felt the same way about him when he is on top or on the bottom and I am not going to put on an act for your sensibilites or his or any other clowns...so just mind what assumptions you make. I have always felt he is a great batsman but an awful captain and sportsman. And his current form or the form or status of his team is not going to change my appraisal of him. Only his actions can do that, whether they win or lose. I see no signs of change in him yet to force a reappraisal. this is the best way to describe how ppl like me think abt this arrogant SOB Ponting..cochise nice post there dude :two_thumbs_up: and Ricky sucker Ponting this is for you :finger: with love..keep enjoying this journey because one fine day when the destination comes u wont be there u sucker..man i hate him i really hate him Link to comment
King Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Stupid theory. How does he explain the losses in test cricket though? Lost hands down against India and South Africa in the test series. Not many Aussie captains in the recent past have had the pleasure of losing two test series' in a row. Link to comment
Ram Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Ponting is coming up with some really ingenious ways to 'We officially suck, expect us to lose a lot more now'. :D Link to comment
fineleg Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 All gloves were off after seeing him and his hobos jumping like mad monkeys after the farcical vicotry at Sydney 07. That was the final straw. And see how their fortunes have dwindled after that. :hysterical::hysterical: I will take every opportunity to maul this mofo. Will never forget the Sydney dancing of vultures. Pwnting and co. were like the kaurava vultures who danced around abhimanyu after undeservingly and wrongly slaying him (our team). Link to comment
EnterTheVoid Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 like I said, there are keyboard warriors everywhere Ponting cops the blame when he wins -> Oh, he didn't win with grace; he had great players, etc etc Ponting cops the blame when he lose -> bad captaincy, bad this / bad that All of you complaining about his captaincy credentials, I am looking forward to watching you captain India one day, ....... , oh wait, its probably all a pipe dream enuf said Link to comment
Kohum Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 like I said, there are keyboard warriors everywhere Ponting cops the blame when he wins -> Oh, he didn't win with grace; he had great players, etc etc Ponting cops the blame when he lose -> bad captaincy, bad this / bad that All of you complaining about his captaincy credentials, I am looking forward to watching you captain India one day, ....... , oh wait, its probably all a pipe dream enuf said You seem to have picked up one thing from P.Rick for sure :haha::haha::haha: Link to comment
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