Ponting starts whinging already

[cochise]

As in fineleg Ponting? Brilliant! :hysterical:

[King Tendulkar]

Ponting is thick. And captaincy has been awful. To comment in public that team is carrying passengers is pathetic. What confidence does it do for team morale. The team they put out is best they have, he as skipper needs to work with what he has and adjust tactics accordingly. Instead he seems to think he has god given right to class of warne or mcgraths, well chump you dont have them and need to adjust accordingly.

[Bumper]

Lifeless pitch at the WACA ? This is the same pitch where the stalwart Aussie batting lineup was bowled out for 319 in the 2nd inns. The Aussie bowling lineup is very one dimensional, with Brett Lee, Johnson, Siddle & co bowling at similar pace with little variation. Krietza's honeymoon is over. I dont think he will play more than a couple of seasons for Australia. When Hayden retires, god help this team. Australia is in a free fall right now. They will still be competitive, given their sport culture, but will no longer be the benchmark in either forms of the game. I still think Brett Lee is one of Australia's best options. He may be out of form, for the time being, but it would be foolish to replace him with Bollinger or Hilfenhaus in such a marquee series. This is a testing phase for many Aussie cricketers. They're venturing into uncharted territories, where the team is losing and players are playing for a place in the side -- something other teams have routinely gone through. On the 4th inns chases, see how suddenly we've had two back to back tests chasing record totals ? This is what I've been saying. You cant point to history & say that its undoable. The more the teams do it, the easier it will become. The teams at the receiving end in the two occasions werent exactly pushovers. England & Australia have more than a decent bowling attack & the efforts came on two pitches (Chennai & Perth) that have the reputation of being bowler friendly. I wish more & more teams go for targets on the final day. No ODI/T20 game can match that excitement.

[The Outsider]

Bumper, it's more of a coincidence that two such run chases happened in the past week than a trend. Chasing 300+, specially in India and Sri Lanka is always going to be tough. I think what India pulled off last week is the greatest chase in the history of test cricket probably rivaling only with the 400+ scored in a day by Australia in 1948. It's not just a question of belief in chasing, you need to have the resources and conditions to support the audacity of chasing 300+.

[Ram]

Symonds' shot selection in BOTH the innings, where he was set on both the occasions but got out playing reckless strokes would definitely earn him some ire. Changes for Melbourne; Watson for Symonds, Noffke for Lee? Surely they cant drop Krezja in Melbourne or Sydney, having played at Perth.

[Bumper]

I dont know if the Chennai chase is bigger than the one chased down by WI against McWarne. Thats gotta be the greatest effort in history. Against McWarne you are never in, you can always get out any moment. As much as we big up Chennai (a mammoth effort nevetheless), it wasnt the mine field that people make it out to be. Once set, it was very difficult to dislodge batsmen. Strauss-Collingwood, Tendu-Yuvraj, Sehwag-Gambhir were all examples that bolster that point. So the conditions did not make Chennai's chase the hardest. Rather I believe the greatness of that chase had more to do with the time that was left in the test match (some 115 overs left to score 387 @ 3.36 per over). Therefore, India was battling several odds in one chase -- weight of the runs, history in India, run rate, Chennai's reputation on D5. I expected a traditional Indian approach to the chase. Most captains would have looked at these odds and decided, its too big to go after, lets dig in & save the match. But Dhoni & Sehwag are different. They made us proud.

[flamy]

But Dhoni & Sehwag are different. They made us proud.

Especially Sehwag in this match :icflove:

[flamy]

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa2008_09/content/current/story/383696.html Check the pic of disconsolate Ponting out on the main page

Wassup with his pantz? some cute kangaroo shith?

[The Outsider]

Symonds' shot selection in BOTH the innings, where he was set on both the occasions but got out playing reckless strokes would definitely earn him some ire. Changes for Melbourne; Watson for Symonds, Noffke for Lee? Surely they cant drop Krezja in Melbourne or Sydney, having played at Perth.

Lee and Symonds are not going anywhere...they will probably drop Siddle for Hilfenhaus, given that Melbourne and Sydney will be more receptive to swing bowling. As for the spinner, it doesn't matter who they play......as long as Ponting is the captain I can't see any spin bowler being useful for Australia....this guy and his coach have come out with statements that they want spin bowlers so they can complete their overs in time....given that approach and Ponting's field settings for spinners, it's crazy to expect Australian spinners to play a major role even at Sydney.

[Ram]

Lee and Symonds are not going anywhere...they will probably drop Siddle for Hilfenhaus' date=' given that Melbourne and Sydney will be more receptive to swing bowling. As for the spinner, it doesn't matter who they play......as long as Ponting is the captain I can't see any spin bowler being useful for Australia....this guy and his coach have come out with statements that they want spin bowlers so they can complete their overs in time....given that approach and Ponting's field settings for spinners, it's crazy to expect Australian spinners to play a major role even at Sydney.[/quote'] Lee has some serious problems, he's no longer the bowler he was last summer. Looks like his marriage break-up has adversely impacted his cricket. Besides, Ponting has been unhappy with Lee for a quite a while now. He's even mentioned that 'Lee will definitely be in squad', meaning that he is seriously reconsidering his position in the eleven. Hilfenhaus swings the new ball out at decent pace, something's Lee's been unable to do nowadays. So, he seems the natural replacement for Lee. Who knows, they may bring in another quick for Siddle or Krezja.

[The Outsider]

I dont know if the Chennai chase is bigger than the one chased down by WI against McWarne. Thats gotta be the greatest effort in history. Against McWarne you are never in, you can always get out any moment. As much as we big up Chennai (a mammoth effort nevetheless), it wasnt the mine field that people make it out to be. Once set, it was very difficult to dislodge batsmen. Strauss-Collingwood, Tendu-Yuvraj, Sehwag-Gambhir were all examples that bolster that point. So the conditions did not make Chennai's chase the hardest. Rather I believe the greatness of that chase had more to do with the time that was left in the test match (some 115 overs left to score 387 @ 3.36 per over). Therefore, India was battling several odds in one chase -- weight of the runs, history in India, run rate, Chennai's reputation on D5. I expected a traditional Indian approach to the chase. Most captains would have looked at these odds and decided, its too big to go after, lets dig in & save the match. But Dhoni & Sehwag are different. They made us proud.

We can argue endlessly about which chase was better and not come to a conclusion, your assertion about McGrath and Warne is well taken but it was Antigua of all places in the world and believe me the Chennai track was not an easy one to bat on. It was really turning on the last couple of days and all commentators were in unison talking about how roughed up and dangerous the pitch has become. It's very easy to denigrate a chase in hindsight, but the true value is ascertained by what people said during the match. David Lloyd, specially, was going ballistic about how the ball was spitting and turning even when not pitched in the rough. As much as I admire Dhoni, I think he had little to do with the chase. It was a Sehwag classic coupled with Tendulkar which made it possible. I doubt Dhoni would have gone to the team and said, "We have to chase it down". Of course, I might be wrong.

[Anakin]

Chennai track was not too easy, there were many balls that even the keeper couldn't get hold of because of turn and bounce. It was Sehwag to showed the way and made it possible to win, but SRT and Yuvi made sure it was actually won.

[DomainK]

Tough comparison between the two chases. The more I think of it, the more I feel that the Chennai chase was better simply because of the conditions. One British news paper even said that the Indian moon mission was a hoax and that the photographs they show are indeed photographs of a fifth day Chennai pitch. So you can imagine how difficult a chase that was. I also feel that the English attack was better than the Australian one. We have faced Australia recently and I think the English attack has more teeth than the Australian one. Freddie and Swann are definitely much better than any English bowler. Having said that, SA chased in on a foreign land. That they have on their side. But then, the pitch looked too good.

[Anakin]

Yeah, hardly a 5th day track

[Guest dada_rocks]

gilchrist warne were the real brain behind decisions in the field.. ponting feeling their absence

[Fontaine]

It's interesting to see Australia really decline in the past year. In comparison India have lost Kumble (who wasn't bowling effectively all year), Ganguly, Dravid in very poor form and have had RP Singh, Sreesanth go out of the squad yet India is going from strength to strength.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Bumper]

It's interesting to see Australia really decline in the past year. In comparison India have lost Kumble (who wasn't bowling effectively all year), Ganguly, Dravid in very poor form and have had RP Singh, Sreesanth go out of the squad yet India is going from strength to strength.

But we've been playing at home recently, so its hard to estimate the impact of losing these two giants. At home, Bhajji & Mishra can fill in the void left by Kumble & our pace attack is a LOT more potent of late. As for Ganguly, his replacement, Yuvraj, in these conditions can score as many runs. Only when we travel, we'll know how good we are. We dont have to wait, the NZ tour is just a few months away. However, once Tendulkar, Dravid & Laxy retire, we will struggle for a while. Most of our success has been based on a standard formula of building tall scores & wearing the opponents down. Building huge scores will take some doing, without the experience in the middle order.

[Chalks]

Australia didn't have Warne in Antigua when Windies chased down 418. He was serving his drug ban. But they did have MacPies.

[cochise]

Ponting cops some stick: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24835571-2882,00.html

RICKY Ponting was last night branded a sore loser and a captain trapped in a bygone era, unable to adapt to life without Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. Former Test batsman and WACA chief executive Graeme Wood launched a withering attack on Ponting, who strongly criticised the placid Perth pitch on which Australia has now lost two Tests in a row. An incredulous Wood could hardly believe Ponting's pitch blast and suggested he should be fingering his own side for the astonishing defeat rather than playing the blame game. "One side got 20 wickets, one side didn't," Wood fumed. "When you are 7-162 in the second innings, I don't think you can point the finger at the wicket. "At one stage the wicketkeepers were back 25 metres, Brett Lee bounced one over the keeper's head. "In the Ashes series we didn't receive any criticism when Shane Warne took that last wicket and they won the Test on the fifth day." WACA curator Cam Sutherland questioned Australia's preparation for the Perth Test by revealing that Ponting had not even consulted him before the match. "I haven't had any communication with Ricky," Sutherland said. "He hasn't spoken to me and there was absolutely nothing about the pitch." South African batting great Barry Richards insisted Ponting must change his field settings, particularly for Brett Lee and Jason Krejza, and arrest his poor body language. "His thinking is still about setting fields for McGrath and Warne and he has not got the cattle to do that," Richards said. "He has two bowlers (Lee and Krejza) who are leaking four runs an over. "Ponting is used to so much success this is really hard for him. You have to have a different strategy. "(South Africa captain) Graeme Smith got strongly criticised for setting defensive fields. I disagree with that because on the flat wickets you have these days you need to be able to save runs. Defensive fields in a way become attacking fields. "You need to have an in and out field. People say third man is a defensive position yet 30 per cent of all Test runs go through there at the WACA. "You cannot have 50 overs a day where you are giving away 200 runs. Your mindset on field placings has to change dramatically. They just let South Africa get too many singles. "Everyone thinks South Africa's spinner Paul Harris is a donkey bowler but he outbowled Jason Krejza by a mile." "South Africa have a plan for Harris. He knows what he is trying to do. Krejza bowls a four ball every seventh ball," Richards said. After the Test, Ponting said he may have to reduce his expectations of Krejza and Peter Siddle. "They're kids really that haven't got a real solid foundation of first-class cricket," Ponting said. "Maybe my expectation on those couple has to go down a little bit. But they're out there playing for Australia and I expect them to be able to do a job."