Drawn Tests in Indian sub-continent a worry: Ponting

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Too many Test matches played in the Indian sub-continent do not produce results, which is a worry for the health of cricket's longer version, according to Australian captain Ricky Ponting. More... Drawn Tests in Indian sub-continent a worry: Ponting Press Trust Of India Melbourne, December 13, 2009 First Published: 16:05 IST(13/12/2009) Last Updated: 17:46 IST(13/12/2009) Too many Test matches played in the Indian sub-continent do not produce results, which is a worry for the health of cricket's longer version, according to Australian captain Ricky Ponting. Asked about his thoughts on the 'death of Test cricket', Ponting said, "I can understand where a lot of negative stuff might start because there's not a lot of results being achieved on the sub-continent these days. "That is a worry for the game. But all we can do is just keep on playing good, aggressive, positive cricket and try to get results in most games we play," Ponting said. "I actually think Test cricket is particularly strong. We are a bit lucky in we play a lot of great Test series. We have a great rivalry with South Africa now, the Ashes Tests are always great matches and Australia and India on the Test side of things in recent times have been great contests," he added. Ponting felt the new umpire referral system has problems but said it should be given a further run. "I sat down with umpires at the end of Adelaide Test and had a chat to them about it. I was a bit worried it might have been putting a bit more pressure on them rather than taking it off, and that's one thing we certainly don't need. "We have to remember, right now it's still really new to all of us and we've got to give it a bit more of an extended run to see its true value," he told 'The Daily Telegraph'.

[goose]

More like losing tests in sub-continent bit of a worry.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

:punter: is back with the whining.. did he forget that his mighty team just scrapped to a draw against minnows windies.. 2 of the 5 ashes tests were draws.. and his team pushed us for a draw against us when we toured them last..

[DomainK]

The world would be such a boring place without :punter:

[Karan114]

How about Ponting worry about the health of his own team in the game's longer version - three defeats in the last four major series followed by a real battle to get out of Adelaide with a draw against WI.

[ViruRulez]

:punter:

[saneindian]

Hahaha. His frustration is pouring out now. Clarke batting way better than him, Aussie media saying Clarke is the best batsman in the team now, Aussies all set to be stuck in the middle rung of the rankings table for some time now, Sachin playing as well as he has ever done and getting past SRT's record becoming more and more of a long cherished unfulfilled dream... Can't blame someone like him under so much of pressure trying to divert attention and finding solace by engaging in such cheap talk. He's got all my sympathies. May he not play a test outside Australia after the current summer.

[vvvslaxman]

What timing. Last match that was held in India got a result. Last match that was held in Australia got a draw.

[TheWall]

Ponting has lost it!

[S.Bond]

Ponting is absolutely right guys, don't be soo blind that u can't see this... Just go and look, 39% of matches are drawsin india in the last decade, 31% in pakistan, that is ridiculous for both countries, i think 20% is good... http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/438890.html Most of u don'tlike ponting becuse of his recentcomparaisons withsachintendulkar asa batsman... but here thepoint is not about batting Ricky Ponting is doing a great job for cricket, he is promotingtest cricket everyyy time, has retires from twenty20 international, has refused to go toIPL, that's wonderfoul and is doing his best in the UDRS system... not critisizing it, not praising it, waiting, wanting to know what umpires thinks of it ect....

[The Outsider]

I agree with Ponting on this one, though the fault for this lies not with the BCCI but ICC. Indian pitches were producing results in the 90s but because of the inability of other teams to cope with turning tracks the ICC pressurized BCCI into pulling out "sporting tracks" without realizing the limitations associated with producing pitches in India. As of today, many pitches in India have been relaid most of them by foreign curators but they have flattened out into pattas. Look at Bangalore for example - the NZ curators have made a complete mess of the wicket.

[bunny]

I second Shwetabh. There shouldnt be pitches like the one in Kanpur against SA, but the Mumbai pitch (in 2004) against Australia produced such a dramatic test match, it was unbelievable. We need more such pitches.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

^^ I was thinking in the same lines.. will the world accept it, if we go back to the azhar/wadekar era and start preparing wickets that assist spin bowlers and ensure results.. when pacy/bouncy wickets like in perth and durban can be accepted as good wickets where batsman have to show their skills to get the better of fast bowling, why not spin friendly tracks accepted.. cant we have the same argument that batsmen from outside the subcontinent should be able to show better skills playing against spin? in response to ponting's worries, bcci should start using spin friendly tracks for all international test matches.. at the same time we should use fast pitches only for domestic matches..

[rkt.india]

I second Shwetabh. There shouldnt be pitches like the one in Kanpur against SA, but the Mumbai pitch (in 2004) against Australia produced such a dramatic test match, it was unbelievable. We need more such pitches.

that was also a dust bowl, u know

[Chandan]

that was also a dust bowl' date=' u know[/quote'] What is wrong with a dust bowl? If WACA can have disconcerting bounce for the batsmen, why could Kanpur or Mumbai in '04 not have a pitch which would turn square?

[Dinx - the Jinx]

^^ exactly.. i seriously dont understand, why spin friendly tracks are criticized while pace friendly ones are hailed..

[bunny]

that was also a dust bowl' date=' u know[/quote'] IIRC, the one in Kanpur was dangerous. RD and a few others almost got hurt. But, I am all in favour of dustbowls, underprepared wickets, whatever. I dont even mind the ones used by NZ in 2002 against India. All of it produces compelling cricket. (Just as a courtesy to the visiting team they should get some practice matches, and also ideally the right to bat/bowl first more often than not). Enough of batting wickets.

[rkt.india]

What is wrong with a dust bowl? If WACA can have disconcerting bounce for the batsmen' date=' why could Kanpur or Mumbai in '04 not have a pitch which would turn square?[/quote'] I dnt have any problem with dust bowls. I am very much in favor of making these pitches. because every country make pitches which suits them and that is where Azhar was good, he made sure that pitches favor Indian team and India won more at home than draws. I believe win is must and u need to do whatever u can do to win matches, whether its by hook or by crook.

[The Outsider]

that was also a dust bowl' date=' u know[/quote']

What is wrong with a dust bowl? If WACA can have disconcerting bounce for the batsmen' date=' why could Kanpur or Mumbai in '04 not have a pitch which would turn square?[/quote'] I think the Bombay pitch in '04 was substandard - I have nothing against turning tracks but a wicket where Clarke ends up taking 6/11 is not international quality and does not really benefit quality bowlers as everyone is the same, but as a one off it's not bad.. However, there was nothing wrong with the Kanpur pitch. South Africa were 150/1 at one stage in their first innings, Ishant Sharma picked up 5 wickets, and Ganguly played a superb knock. It was good test cricket. Look at the pitches produced in the '01 series against Australia - absolutely perfect test match pitches and look at the quality of cricket it produced from two good sides. There was bounce and turn for the bowlers and yet batsmen could trust the bounce and play strokes. We used to produce a fair bit of those kind in the 90s, but the opposition was so inept against spin that they used to end up getting rolled over leading to allegations of doctored tracks.

[Lurker]

What is wrong with a dust bowl? If WACA can have disconcerting bounce for the batsmen' date= why could Kanpur or Mumbai in '04 not have a pitch which would turn square?

Because it will take a good fast bowler to exploit the disconcerting bounce. Just because a pitch is fast and bouncy does not mean a Mark Waugh with his military medium would take 5 wickets. On the other hand the dust bowls of India ensures two things: a) Spinners who would hardly make a mark at International level come across as being an all-time great. Case in point Venkatpathy Raju who has 71 wickets in 16 tests@24 while his away record reads 22 wickets in 12 tests@52. b) Mediocre batsmen end up piling runs and beefing their aggregates only to be found wanting when they travel overseas. xxx