Ponting expects continued success

[DesiChap]

Ponting expects continued success By Martin Gough BBC Sport in Barbados Ponting is confident Australia will stay top dogs Ricky Ponting believes Australia can continue to dominate cricket despite the loss of some leading players. Shane Warne and Justin Langer retired after the Ashes victory and Glenn McGrath bowed out after Saturday's World Cup final triumph over Sri Lanka. "I fully expect us to win every game we play, it doesn't matter what the make-up of the team is," he said. "When we get some younger guys in the Test and one-day side in the next few months I still expect us to win." 606: DEBATE Australia's consistency with bat and ball and in the field has been outstanding BM Fast bowler Shaun Tait, a late replacement in the side who finished the World Cup with 23 wickets is just one example of a young player slotting straight into the team. "I know the quality of those players is first-class; our domestic cricket is very strong and we've seen the young guys play a fair bit. "When they do come into the Test and one-day sides I'd like to think that the performances won't drop off at all. I'm not worried - I'm looking at it as a more exciting time in my career." Shaun Tait will now look to win a place in Australia's Test line-up Matthew Hayden, the World Cup's leading scorer with 659 runs, has already stated that he will continue his career, although he is 35 years old. And Adam Gilchrist, another 35-year-old, whose 149 was the highest score ever in a World Cup final, said his intention for now was to continue in both forms of the game. "I will never make a decision on my career when I'm really down and flat or when I'm really high or emotional," he said. "I'll walk away and let things settle down a bit but that's my plan at the moment - to keep going." Ponting paid tribute to John Buchanan, who took over as coach after Australia's 1999 World Cup triumph and retires after this one. "We shouldn't let the coach get away with saying all he does is drag the bags out and set the gear up," the Aussie skipper added. "He's tested us all and challenged us all the whole time he has been in charge of this team. "He's always been overlooked. It's not an easy thing to do to take over a team playing good cricket and make it better - he's been able to do that."

[DesiChap]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Aus have always struggled without McWarne. I recon their days of domination are over. They will still win and go through a slow decay.

[The Outsider]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Dont think their ODI performances will suffer. Its in test matches where they are likely to slide down a bit.

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Ponting expects continued success

Aus have always struggled without McWarne. I recon their days of domination are over. They will still win and go through a slow decay.

every since warne went missing Aussies have won 2 WCs, so much for your slow decay theory. If this is struggling then more struggle for India.

[Predator_05]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Australia should be banned from playing cricket.

[yoda]

Re: Ponting expects continued success They are beatable in both forms. SL almost came close, just didn't raise their level in the finals.

[King Tendulkar]

Re: Ponting expects continued success

They are beatable in both forms. SL almost came close' date=' just didn't raise their level in the finals.[/quote'] How exactly did they come close :huh: They got slaughtered in both games against oz in finals. If it was not for the overs being reduced aus would have got 400+. However, I think in tests they may come closer to the pack without Warne. They will cope ok without Mcgrath! They will still be No 1 in both though.

[kumble_rocks]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Ponting has earned the bragging rights for the next decade. People like Gavasker should shut up for good.

[Gambit]

Re: Ponting expects continued success In ODIs, they will continue to be light years ahead. In tests, however, I'd like to think that the gap between them and the rest will lessen considerably.

[The Outsider]

Re: Ponting expects continued success If SL ran Australia close in the finals then the Ind-Aus final 4 years back was a nail biter. Atleast we were up on the DL at some stage.

[Bumper]

Re: Ponting expects continued success But who will challenge the Aussies ? 1) Lankans will have Jayasuriya, Murali, Vaas retire in an year or two. They wont be half the team without these three 2) India has too many problems. Non-performing ageing stars approaching retirement, while no new talent has been unearthed as replacements 3) Saffies are home track bullies, never won anything outside 4) Pakistan, well they are Pakistan. Even if they do well in patches, they will find a way to resort to mediocrity promptly. 5) NZ will win the odd games here & there, but with Bond's fitness issues wont be a consistent threat to anyone 6) Engerland is a one series wonder, they'll stay that way 7) WI will sink to new lows with their only batting star retiring Even if the Aussies slip a bit, the rest of the world is so far away from catching up. Clarke will replace McGrath well. Haddin will do an ok job replacing Gilly. Donno who will replace Haydos & Langer ? Warne, OTOH, cannot be replaced.

[yoda]

Re: Ponting expects continued success

If SL ran Australia close in the finals then the Ind-Aus final 4 years back was a nail biter. Atleast we were up on the DL at some stage.

At some point, when Jaya and Sanga were batting, the target remained achievable with RRR staying around 8 RPO for several overs. Don't know if the commentrators ever said "the game is still on" during our WC finals when the second team was batting.

[Bumper]

Re: Ponting expects continued success No way that this finals was close. Tho, SL did a great job of selling it to everyone. Aus scored 347 against us last time. This time at the 38 over mark they were 281. A full 50 over game would have meant SL chasing 400. That game must have been over before the chase began. (Its much more difficult to chase a big high RR target than a 38 over target). SL would have likely been 200 allout had they chased a bigger target. And even in the curtailed chase SL competed for 5 overs (when Jaya & Sanga were batting together) in the entire match. SL never had any hitting power beyond Jaya & Sanga to keep the RR up. Not once there was any doubt in my mind as to who the winner was gonna be. As for that short hopeful period, even in the last finals we were 10 runs short of victory by D/L method near the 25 over mark. But we know how one sided it was dont we ? In short, competing for 5 overs doesnt make a match even

[gs]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Will make no difference to the Aus team in the near future. They will stay #1 for a long time in both forms (ODIs & Tests) of the game! I am not sure how the 20-20 version will pan out though :chin:

[chanakya]

Re: Ponting expects continued success Aussies will win 20-20 with gilly. Mr cricket will step out on the field only to field