Ponting's presence holds Australian cricket back

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More... Ponting's presence holds Australian cricket back Andrew Stevenson March 29, 2011 Ricky Ponting's decision to retire as captain but play on is a horse designed by committee: a camel that will serve no one's best interests. Australian cricket may be headed for several dark years but its only way back out into the daylight is by fully acknowledging the extent to which it has lost its way and spending maximum time and energy developing the players who will lead us into a better future. Sorry Ricky, you're part of the problem not the solution. On the wrong side of 36, Ponting has visions of restoring his lustre, a la Sachin Tendulkar, the Indian master who's career appears unending and who finds himself in the best form of his life as he prepares to light 38 candles for his birthday cake next month. ..Ponting's supporters would point out that Tendulkar's ever-lasting summer has concided with his rejection of the Indian captaincy a third time. Doubtless it helped him. The pressure and expectation of the accumulated demands of more than one billion people weigh heavy on any shoulders; heavier still on the greatest batsman India, and perhaps the world, has seen. Tendulkar dominates a cricket field with the graceful power of a tiger but as captain he was a failure; as a player, he is a man best left to his own devices. Not so Ponting, a 20-year veteran of the elite pathways of Australian cricket, whose home has always been at the heart of the dressing room, whose cricket improved with the responsibility of leadership and whose total ambition has always been focused on the team's success. Can he bat any better? Very doubtful. He might strike the occasional vein of form but they will be fewer and last less time with every passing season. And, with every match he plays on, the reinvigoration of the Australian cricket team is further delayed. How many ageing batsmen can the team carry? Already there are Simon Katich and Mike Hussey, both almost 36. Age marks the prospects of both, yet Katich and Hussey have far more to prove and therefore more reason to play on than Ponting who, despite his record as a thrice-losing Ashes captain, has achieved everything in the game that he could have ever dreamed of. Each night Julia Gillard must stick pins in her Kevin07 doll; Tony Abbott can doubtless see the face of Malcolm Turnbull every time he pounds the heavy bag. Don't make Michael Clarke carry the baggage of an old leader into a new future.

[Chandan]

Tendulkar dominates a cricket field with the graceful power of a tiger but as captain he was a failure; as a player, he is a man best left to his own devices. Not so Ponting, a 20-year veteran of the elite pathways of Australian cricket, whose home has always been at the heart of the dressing room, whose cricket improved with the responsibility of leadership and whose total ambition has always been focused on the team's success. Can he bat any better? Very doubtful. He might strike the occasional vein of form but they will be fewer and last less time with every passing season.

Interesting that the author thinks that Ponting can't get that last rich vein of form Sachin did in last 3-4 years. He hasn't explained the reasons completely but what I could gather, and I can be completely wrong, that Ponting was never focussed on his individual success and always revelled in the team's success. It was the team doing well was what brought the best in him and it only improved with the resposibility of role of premere batsman in the team and then the leader. So the author is not quite sure as to how Ponting will concentrate on his individual success with team struggling badly! What do you guys say?

[cowboysfan]

i am not terribly impressed with clarke at all,the aussies will start to pine for ponting once we complete our australia series.

[Chandan]

Its not about leadership but the batsman Ponting in the team.

[straight.drive]

This article is a pretty good analysis. Oz need to look for the future and this is the appropriate time to phase out the seniors.

[Karan114]

This article is a pretty good analysis. Oz need to look for the future and this is the appropriate time to phase out the seniors.

Thing is, Katich got injured in the Ashes and Hughes had three Tests to make a case for himself, but he was a failure. Khawaja did OK on debut and looks talented but not outstanding. Some of the other talents like Ferguson and Marsh have ordinary FC records. Back in their glory days the Aussies had so many great batsmen that guys like Law, Lehmann, Hodge etc. didn't play many Tests despite being excellent batsmen themselves. Now that upcoming talent isn't of the same class.

[ganeshran]

Is Feed completely automated?

[Chandan]

Captaincy now over, time to chase records James Dampney From: March 30, 2011 Ponting has long worn the tag as Australia's "best batsman since Bradman", but his exploits with the willow waned while trying to lead a new-look side through difficult times. Now the 36-year-old believes his decision to relinquish the captaincy yesterday - he insists he wasn't tapped on the shoulder - could kick-start a new golden period of form solely as a batsman. While he says he isn't interested in individual records, Ponting could again find himself neck and neck with India's little master in Test match batting milestones if he can recapture his best. "I haven't put a finish date or time on when my international career is going to be over," Ponting said, announcing the end of his captaincy at an SCG media conference. "The honest truth is the fact I'm not going to be captain any more might give me a chance of playing better. I think it will keep me a bit mentally fresher than I have been in the last couple of years." If not for his form slump and Tendulkar's own batting renaissance over the past 18 months, Ponting would already be breathing down his neck. In late 2009, Ponting's average was nudging 60 and he had 38 Test tons to Tendulkar's 42. Since that time, however, Tendulkar has smashed a further nine centuries and raced towards 15,000 Test runs, while Ponting has only added a lone ton. All told, Tendulkar - who is nearly two years older than Ponting - has 14,692 runs at 56.94, including 51 centuries. In 25 fewer Tests, Ponting has 12,363 runs at 53.51 with 39 tons. He now passes the baton to Michael Clarke, expected to be named the new captain today. There could be some awkward moments with Ponting still on the scene, but he fully endorsed Clarke for the role and said he'd be there for advice if asked. "He has done a terrific job in almost every game he has had a chance to captain Australia, starting with the Twenty20 team, I thought he did a great job there," Ponting said. "What he did with the one-day team in my absence, not only through the summer, but in other tours, was absolutely first-class." The retirements of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist put huge pressure on Ponting as the team slipped from first to fifth in Test rankings. He implored selectors to stick with the likes of fellow greybeards Mike Hussey and Simon Katich as the team continues to evolve. "I think we've seen that in the last couple of years when we had a lot of the greats move on at one time, it left us very bare and it's been very hard for us to rebuild and get ourselves back to where we want." Ponting has no guarantees by selectors, but expects to hear his name when the side for next month's ODI tour of Bangladesh is announced today. He also hasn't ruled out the 2013 Ashes tour. ======================================== So now many in Oz media expect him to after Sachin's records! Interesting. It'll be quite interesting to see how Ponting goes in the final phase of his career!

[kabira]

He will be given few tests and see his form. IF he does not score much, I guess it will be time to retire.

[Cricketics]

Lot of rubbish written in the article. Ponting still is Australias best test bat. Watson has a puprle patch rite now for Australia and is doing well top of the order like how Hayden was doing so well for Australia. In the middle. Clarke really hasn't scored any runs in tests. Failed throughout Ashes, and was booed all over by Aussie crowd, whenever he got out. In the middle, Australia still needs ponting just like we need Laxman and Dravid for India. You can't expect to drop your best batsman after you know your batting failed to do anything against not the greatest Egnlish attack int he last test series you played. He is still way ahead of Clarke or Hussey or Watson or any bat in Australia. Can easily play atleast an year or two in tests even if he decides to retire from ODI'S.

[kabira]

Watson is doing well, but not enough. As a opener you should be scoring hundreds and big ones. Not solid 50s and 60s..

[Chandan]

How about this article: Sachin Tendulkar shows Ricky Ponting the way Malcolm Conn From: The Australian March 30, 2011 Unburdened from the shackles of captaincy in a faltering side, Australia's most successful batsman and the world's most dominant leader can look forward to a golden twilight. Batting down the order away from the new ball, as Steve Waugh and Allan Border did at his age, the same steel and experience Ponting poured into his World Cup quarter-final century should reappear. Far from having no one to replace him at the pivotal first drop, Shane Watson, Simon Katich, Phil Hughes and Usman Khawaja will be fighting it out for the top three places, with only Watson assured of being there against Sri Lanka in September. While Waugh and Border remained captain to the end, they both finished aged 38 in the comfort of the middle order. In their last year, Waugh averaged 77 with four centuries, after overcoming a lean spell to save his career, and Border averaged 46 with two hundreds. But the player Ponting should be most inspired by is Sachin Tendulkar. Last year, at 37, he made 1562 runs at an average of 78, including seven hundreds. Ponting turns 37 in December. Ponting averaged in the mid- to high-30s during the past two years with just one hundred in 2009 and only one last year, when he was dropped on 0 at fine leg hooking against Pakistan in Hobart. He went on to make a double century, saving his summer. There were no such heroics against England this season, when he averaged a miserable 16 as Australia lost the Ashes at home for the first time in 24 years. While Tendulkar is untouchably ahead as the game's leading Test and one-day run-scorer, Ponting is second in Test cricket and about to become second in the 50-over game. There is no question that Tendulkar is the leading batsman of his era, in front of the more pugnacious Ponting, artistic Brian Lara and relentless Jacques Kallis, However, no right-minded person can argue against Ponting standing alone as a captain. Along with almost 26,000 Test and one-day runs and 69 international centuries, Ponting has won an unprecedented 48 Tests and 164 one-day matches as leader. Tendulkar won just four of 25 Tests and 23 of 73 one-day matches as captain. For more than a decade the Indian maestro has been free to direct all his energy and will inwardly to enhance his greatness. For almost as long, Ponting has been a floodlight, spreading himself across an ever-changing team. Of late, that light has dimmed personally and collectively. Poor performances, intemperate outbursts, consecutive Ashes failures and Australia's worst performance in a World Cup for two decades have combined to rightly convince Ponting that he needs all his energies turned inwardly if he is to survive as a player. Having been in charge for so long and been such a strong and willing leader, the hardest thing Ponting may find is to sit quietly in the corner as Michael Clarke marshals the troops. It will be a very different dynamic under a new captain not used to shedding his light far beyond himself. Clarke is battling a dressing-room reputation of introspection if life does not unfold as he would like. But then Steve Waugh was forced to battle a reputation for being selfish and became one of Australia's most successful captains late in his cricketing life. The recent Ashes aside, Clarke's on-field performances have been consistently good since he returned to the side after being dropped five years ago. And he has a fine record as a Twenty20 and stand-in one-day captain. There will be suggestions that Ponting should retire completely to give Clarke a clear passage, but who should replace Australia's best after Bradman from a soft Sheffield Shield competition? With tours of Sri Lanka and South Africa before all powerful India arrives in Australia, Clarke will need all the hard-headed support he can muster. There is no harder head than Ponting. All Ponting needs to do is make some runs. =================================== So it seems that the majority of the media will be waiting be baited breath for a Ricky rebirth like that of Tendulkar. And note the last lines---all poweful India? Wow!!!

[Sachin=GOD]

Lot of rubbish written in the article. Ponting still is Australias best test bat. Watson has a puprle patch rite now for Australia and is doing well top of the order like how Hayden was doing so well for Australia. In the middle. Clarke really hasn't scored any runs in tests. Failed throughout Ashes, and was booed all over by Aussie crowd, whenever he got out. In the middle, Australia still needs ponting just like we need Laxman and Dravid for India. You can't expect to drop your best batsman after you know your batting failed to do anything against not the greatest Egnlish attack int he last test series you played. He is still way ahead of Clarke or Hussey or Watson or any bat in Australia. Can easily play atleast an year or two in tests even if he decides to retire from ODI'S.

This. Despite being in bad form, Ponting is Australia's best bet in both Tests and ODI's to have a solid and dependable middle order. I expect a sort of revival in fortunes for him as a batsman in the coming months. As for Clarke being Captain - :fail: :fail:

[Cricketics]

Even though it's nice to see Tendulkars name in Aussie media every time pontings reitrement is questioned, I feel some of these columnist in Australia are turning out to be same hindi tv channel journalists. They are trying to hype little things and trying to demean their own Superstar. I think the media quality and Journalism around the world has been reduced to a point where it's hard to expect something even decent from any article you read these days. I think this will be a great comeback year from Ponting whenevevr he comes back. My personal opinion. And as a Cricket fan, it would be nice to see one of the greatest test cricketer scoring some runs. He is awesome to watch when in full flow. I won't mind him scoring runs.

[Chandan]

Anyway, no one gave opinion on the original thought of the author as to why he thinks Ponting can't have a Tendulkar sort of revival. I was interested in knowing your views!

[flamy]

Is Feed completely automated?

no, she listens to me

[flamy]

Anyway' date=' no one gave opinion on the original thought of the author as to why he thinks Ponting can't have a Tendulkar sort of revival. I was interested in knowing your views![/quote'] I think the author has a point. Ponting likes to be in the limelight. That's what drives him. Relegating the leadership will be tough on him. That is his personality. Tendulkar is different, more grounded, such things don't matter to him. Cricket is as much psychological as it is a matter of skill. Also, albeit a completely different format, I don't think Ponting played any memorable knocks in IPL. Would be interesting to see what his domestic record is like (when he is not captain)

[Bradman99]

Who is this guy anyway? Crap article.