"Ponting has deserted sinking ship"

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Australian pace great Jeff Thomson has lashed out at skipper Ricky Ponting for failing to lead the side from the front. More... Australian pace great Jeff Thomson has lashed out at skipper Ricky Ponting for failing to lead the side from the front. The Australians dominated throughout the five-match series, but eventually failed to retain the urn mainly due to poor captaincy of Ponting, feels the 59-year-old former cricketer. Thomson raises questions "Ricky Ponting is flying home for a rest - but he should be staying in England to help clear up the mess he's left behind. It doesn't look good when he loses the Ashes and then doesn't hang around to face the music with his team-mates," Thompson wrote in his column in 'Mirror'. "The captain should always be last off his sinking ship, not the first to jump in the lifeboat. Unless Ponting has urgent personal business, or compassionate leave for something I'm not aware of, he should not be nipping back to Australia and putting his feet up for the first half of the one-day series," he said. "How the hell did the Aussies manage to lose the series 2-1 when they scored eight hundreds to England's two, and the three leading wicket-takers were all Australian?," Thomson raised question. The former cricket was also far from amused with the task of national selectors and feels not playing off-spinner Nathan Hauritz in the final Test match was the biggest mistake on the visitors' part. "Our selectors have made any number of mistakes on this trip, but leaving out Hauritz at The Oval was the lousiest of all. I'm not sure who had the final say, but Merv Hughes (an Australian selector) has been floating around like a package tour rep so it's not like our blokes have been forced to play guessing games from 10,000 miles away," he wrote. "If the selectors go first then Ponting won't be far behind, even though he's still our best batsman. I know I bagged him before the series started, and overall I don't think he captained the side that badly. "But those last 11 overs in the first Test at Cardiff are going to haunt him into his old age," he added. Australia, despite being in favourable position, failed to secure the lead in the first encounter in Cardiff.

[Desi Cartman]

I was amazed to read this as well. Mr R Ponting is returning to Aus. Does this mean that he wont be playing t20s or even ODIs ?

[The Outsider]

I was amazed to read this as well. Mr R Ponting is returning to Aus. Does this mean that he wont be playing t20s or even ODIs ?

It was planned before hand that he would rest the T20s and the first 2-3 ODIs.

[EnterTheVoid]

Bread and butter stuff, pick a scapegoat, captain or selector will do, highlight all the problems yet propose no solution. Everybody's a ****ing expert.

[flamy]

:hysterical: I cannot keep a straight face when the n00bs I talk to wax eloquent about what a great captain Pwnt is :rotfl:

[Mr. Wicket]

in b4 James Sutherland defends him and promises to stick with this buffoon until 2011 WC. :banghead:

[Ram]

Like him or hate him for your own personal reasons, but I don’t think ANYONE can question the commitment of someone who has scored nearly 12,000 test runs. Such performers don’t come around often and if they do, one can be sure that he has given it all to his country on a cricket field. To hurl such cheap-shots at such a performer, especially after a close Ashes defeat, is so crass and so below the belt. Ponting may not be a Gentleman cricketer, but he is certainly one of the best batsmen in the history of the game. And you cannot be one of the best, if you’re given to running away from a team in trouble.

[DomainK]

Like him or hate him for your own personal reasons, but I don’t think ANYONE can question the commitment of someone who has scored nearly 12,000 test runs. Such performers don’t come around often and if they do, one can be sure that he has given it all to his country on a cricket field. To hurl such cheap-shots at such a performer, especially after a close Ashes defeat, is so crass and so below the belt. Ponting may not be a Gentleman cricketer, but he is certainly one of the best batsmen in the history of the game. And you cannot be one of the best, if you’re given to running away from a team in trouble.

I dont think anyone is questioning Ponting's abilities as a batsman. It's his captaining skills that are being criticized. He is a great batsman and a bad captain.

[Ram]

I dont think anyone is questioning Ponting's abilities as a batsman. It's his captaining skills that are being criticized. He is a great batsman and a bad captain.

I dont think so. Looks what Thompson is saying here;

Ricky Ponting is flying home for a rest - but he should be staying in England to help clear up the mess he's left behind. It doesn't look good when he loses the Ashes and then doesn't hang around to face the music with his team-mates," Thompson wrote in his column in 'Mirror'. "The captain should always be last off his sinking ship, not the first to jump in the lifeboat. Unless Ponting has urgent personal business, or compassionate leave for something I'm not aware of, he should not be nipping back to Australia and putting his feet up for the first half of the one-day series," he said.

That is essentially saying Ponting is not committed to the cause of the Australian team. If he had just merely criticized his captaincy blooper throughout the series, that’s is fine. But this is way over the top.

[King Tendulkar]

Well Thomo has a point. Why is going back for a rest etc. Face the music Ponting. Also he should not be tired at all. He missed IPL and he seemingly threw the 20/20 wc chances of the aussies to prepare properly for ashes. So despite perfect preperation and rest they still blew the ashes. And now he is going home for rest blah blah. AUSSIES HAVE GONE SOFT IMO, EVEN THEIR HARD AS NAILS SKIPPER HAS GONE SOFT:hysterical: And we all know what thomo thinks of ponting the captain, as he expressed so eloquently before the ashes that he did not think ponting was a good captain:--D

[Bradman99]

I do agree with some things, but disagree on others. I don't think Pontings captaincy was the best, but to those who say he has no idea, I'd like to see you do better. Who else is there to take over ? Clarke is not ready yet, but he's next. Also ^ hard as nails, yet he stayed on after getting smacked in the face with a ball and losing a tooth? Hah, I'd be surprised if you would of stayed on after that. But I do agree that he should of stayed for the rest of the tour, I don't see why he needs a rest. And to maris mania-- I don't think that he is questioning his commitment to the team, I think it's more to do with leading the team as a captain and staying on for the rest of the tour.

[Lord]

I do agree with some things, but disagree on others. I don't think Pontings captaincy was the best, but to those who say he has no idea, I'd like to see you do better. Who else is there to take over ? Clarke is not ready yet, but he's next. Also ^ hard as nails, yet he stayed on after getting smacked in the face with a ball and losing a tooth? Hah, I'd be surprised if you would of stayed on after that. But I do agree that he should of stayed for the rest of the tour, I don't see why he needs a rest. And to maris mania-- I don't think that he is questioning his commitment to the team, I think it's more to do with leading the team as a captain and staying on for the rest of the tour.

hes 28 n in the batting form of his life,wen else will he be ready?i dont think he'll do worse than Ricky

[Bradman99]

hes 28 n in the batting form of his life' date='wen else will he be ready?i dont think he'll do worse than Ricky[/quote'] I reckon 1 more year. He's batting so well, that giving him the captaincy may put extra stress on him. I say 1 more year of great performances of Clarke and if there is still some doubt over Pontings captaincy skills, then give it to Clarke. But.. I have faith in Ponting.

[The Outsider]

Thomson is being needlessly critical just for the sake of it. It was decided way before Australia lost that Ponting would fly back after the tests and return for the final leg of the ODIs.

[Mr. Wicket]

Thomson is being needlessly critical just for the sake of it.

Well Thommo is Australia's rent-a-quote... much like Bedi in India, where on any slow news day a reporter can come up to him and immediately get a quote-filled rant about chuckers, dacoits and thieves.

[Chalks]

Well Thommo is Australia's rent-a-quote... much like Bedi in India' date=' where on any slow news day a reporter can come up to him and immediately get a quote-filled rant about chuckers, dacoits and thieves.[/quote'] Thommo is a worthy successor to Neil Harvey. *cough*

[King Tendulkar]

Bradman and co used to spend 6 weeks on a ship to play the ashes and spent months in touring country. Now the asussies like punter who is famed for his toughness is soft in comparison to the aussie hardmen of yesteryear. I was watching a great programme on Border. And they talked about 1986 test in Chennai, when Dean Jones was throwing up on pitch and then urinating as well. Was falling to bits while batting with illness, so quite rightly said thats it cant carry on batting any more to his captain Border at the other end. As he was a total mess. His captains respone "If you can't hack it, let's get a tough Queenslander out here - get me Greg Ritchie!" Dean jones got angry they had a bit of a do and Jones carried on batting. Those were the days of tough ausses. And quite frankly I miss the nasty, died hard attitude of the aussies. Almost long for the days of SOB's like Mcgrath, Waugh and bullies Hayden/Symonds:cantstop:. Now we have pussy cats in comparison, who dont sledge, dont win and go home to see their family in between matches. Aussies have gone soft!

[zubinpepsi]

Those were the days of tough ausses. And quite frankly I miss the nasty, died hard attitude of the aussies. Almost long for the days of SOB's like Mcgrath, Waugh and bullies Hayden/Symonds:cantstop:. Now we have pussy cats in comparison, who dont sledge, dont win and go home to see their family in between matches. Aussies have gone soft!

ouchhhh!!:giggle:

[bharat297]

Australia didnt lose the series due to poor captaincy. Yes, they had a poor session in Cardiff (and that was Pontings fault for not bowling his pacemen then), but in general at least 80% of the decisions he made ... be it who to bowl, when, and the kinds of field were pretty much warranted. In 2005, his captaincy was poor. You cant really blame Ponting for some of the unexpected suprises throughout the series such as Hughes, who dominated the likes of Steyn and Ntini getting troubled by Flintoff and co. or Johnson who ripped apart the South Africans last summer, getting smashed around the park. Where Ponting does need to improve on, is having some backup plans such as bowling Katich or Clarke occassionally, to relieve the pressure off North. I think the selectors are more to blame than Ponting. There were some shocking selection decisions. Who the hell doesnt take a backup opener for a 5 match test series? Or only picks 1 spinner in their lineup, and doesnt pick the spinner on the dustiest track in England?