Arrogant Ponting must be sacked: Roebuck

[Dooks]

This should be sent to PONTING and all Aus media. They can then keep playing it until the hand it other way around and the ball is in the air. Cheeky Monkey that ponting.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Question is why ain't we registering formal complaint despite this kind of thuggery at display

[Anakin]

Question is why ain't we registering formal complaint despite this kind of thuggery at display

Because he was sure :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Guest dada_rocks]

Rasheed Latif was sure too that's given from somoene who appeals..:haha:

[maggot_brain]

This should be sent to PONTING and all Aus media. They can then keep playing it until the hand it other way around and the ball is in the air. Cheeky Monkey that ponting.

Careful now, you don't want be accused of racism do you?

[Chandan]

Okay. I'll post the article in full: Arrogant Ponting should be sacked The Australian captain's disrespect for his opponents has embarrassed his country, writes Peter Roebuck RICKY PONTING must be sacked as captain of the Australian cricket team. If Cricket Australia cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players over the past few days. Beyond comparison it was the ugliest performance put up by an Australian side for 20 years. The only surprising part of it is that the Indians have not packed their bags and gone home. There is no justice for them in this country, nor any manners. That the senior players in the Australian team are oblivious to the fury they raised among many followers of the game in this country and beyond merely confirms their own narrow and self-obsessed viewpoint. Doubtless they were not exposed to the messages that poured in from distressed enthusiasts aghast to see the scenes of bad sportsmanship and triumphalism presented at the SCG during and after the Test. Pained past players rang to express their disgust. It was a wretched and ill-mannered display and not to be endured from any side, let alone an international outfit representing a proud sporting nation. Make no mistake, it is not only the reputation of these cricketers that has suffered. Australia itself has been embarrassed. The notion that Ponting can hereafter take the Australian team to India is preposterous. He has shown not the slightest interest in the well-being of the game, not the slightest sign of diplomatic skills, not a single mark of respect for his accomplished and widely admired opponents. Harbhajan Singh can be an irritating young man but he is head of a family and responsible for raising nine people. And all the Australian elders want to do is to hunt him from the game. Australian fieldsmen fire insults from the corners of their mouths, an intemperate Sikh warrior overreacts and his rudeness is seized upon. It might impress barrack room lawyers. In the past few days Ponting has presided over a performance that dragged the game into the pits. He turned a group of professional cricketers into a pack of wild dogs. As much can be told from the conduct of his closest allies in the team. As usual, Matthew Hayden crossed himself upon reaching three figures in his commanding second innings, a gesture he does not perform while wearing the colours of his state. Exactly how he combines his faith with throwing his weight around on the field has long bemused opposing sides, whose fondness for him ran out a long time ago. Hayden has much better in him. Michael Clarke also had a dreadful match but he is a young man and has time to rethink his outlook. That his mind was in disarray could be told from his batting. In the first innings he offered no shot to a straight ball and in the second he remained at the crease after giving an easy catch to slip. On this evidence Clarke cannot be promoted to the vice-captaincy of his country. It is a captain's primary task to rear his younger players and to prepare his successor for the ordeals of office. Nothing need be said about the catch Clarke took in the second innings except that in the prevailing circumstances the umpires were ill-advised to take anyone's word for anything. The Indians were convinced Ponting grounded a catch he claimed on the final afternoon at the SCG. Throughout those heated hours, the Australian remained hostile, kicking the ground, demanding decisions, pressuring the umpires. So much for the corporate smile that has been produced these last few years. Probably the worst aspect of the Australians' performance was their conduct at the end. When the last catch was taken they formed into a huddle and started jumping up and down like teenagers at a rave. It was not euphoria. It was ecstasy. They had swallowed a dangerous pill called vengeance. Not one player so much as thought about shaking hands with the defeated and departing. So much for Andrew Flintoff consoling a stricken opponent in his hour of defeat. Nor could Ponting and Gilchrist stop themselves publicly chiding Tony Greig for daring to criticise the timing of the declaration. They should have been thanking their lucky stars that three wickets had fallen in five balls, one of them in dubious circumstances. Australia had 150 runs and five minutes to spare. It was unfitting conduct from an Australian captain or vice-captain. By all accounts Ponting was later rude towards Indian reporters at his news conference. Ponting has not provided the leadership expected from an Australian cricket captain and so must be sacked. On this evidence the time has also come to thank Hayden and Gilchrist for their services. None of them are bad fellows. All will look back on this match not as their finest hour but their worst. Obviously a new captain and side is required. But that is a task for another day. It is possible to love a country and not its cricket team.

[arkay]

He should be banned for blatant lying. Can you seeing Ponting is seeing the ball? He abuses Indian media when they question him. You should not be in the media if you ask me questions. My foot.

[Anakin]

I just have one question, when he says he's sure about the catch, what did he think he landed on? Is it pure air?

[Anakin]

Superbly written, you have my respect Mr. Roebuck :hatsoff:

[Guest dada_rocks]

HE is bloody staring at that ball in his hand bumping on the ground.. Clearly out of Rasheed-ltif book.. Michael clarke may not have known though although wheh he turned aroun then he bumped the bhand with the ball in the ground and that he must have known..

[Anakin]

Actually Latif had the ball in his gloves much longer, I'm sure you can argue that he thought he completed the catch.

[Ram]

The only defense for Ponting that i can think of is, when he caught the ball mid-air and as he was landing, his attention probably shifted to appealing, which could have meant he may have missed the ball touching the ground. Only an ignorant fool will knowingly ground the ball as much as he did and then claim in a press-conference " There is no way that ball is touching the ground"

[SachDan]

Roebuck, what an article? if only your fellow writers also had the guts,this Australian team can be changed in to a well behaved side.

[SachDan]

For me ponting is not just a bunny any more...he's a wild cat!!!

[Dooks]

How can we get this picture on air in Aus? That is the most important question. No Aus TV channel will show this picture and neither will the papers. Proctor should not rule against Ponting. He would get away scot-free because it wasn't a 'catch' since Dhoni did not touch it with his bat. Loopholes everywhere. I am so incensed by Ponting comments to our journilist as well. The

[Anakin]

The only defense for Ponting that i can think of is' date=' when he caught the ball mid-air and as he was landing, his attention probably shifted to appealing, which could have meant he may have missed the ball touching the ground. Only an ignorant fool will knowingly ground the ball as much as he did and then claim in a press-conference " There is no way that ball is touching the ground"[/quote'] And what makes you think he's not an ignorant arrogant buffoon? So far he's been displaying his crassness consistently well ever since I can remember.

[Ram]

And what makes you think he's not an ignorant arrogant buffoon? So far he's been displaying his crassness consistently well ever since I can remember.

That i can understand. My respect for almost all the Aus players has drastically gone down.

[Chandan]

Why Ponting should be banned Prem Panicker January 07, 2008 15:35 IST Last Updated: January 07, 2008 20:32 IST Update: Why should Ricky Ponting [Images] not be banned, for a period of five Tests, for unfair practices that contravene the spirit of cricket? Think back to September 2003, and the Pakistan-Bangladesh series. Then Pakistan captain Rashid Latif was docked for claiming a catch, when the ball had touched the ground. He was suspended for five games -- effectively missing the entire one day series between the two sides. On that occasion, the match referee while handing out his sentence said: "As captain a lot of responsibility falls of Rashid Latif and he committed a serious offence by claiming that (unfair) catch which constitutes unfair play and a level-three offence of ICC [Images] code of conduct (offensive and penalties). Therefore, the Pakistani captain shall be banned for five one-day internationals." The match referee was -- surprise, surprise -- Mike Procter no less; the same official currently in the hot seat in the India versus Australia series. So, again -- if the BCCI is serious about "upholding the honor" of the team and the country, should it not file, with irrefutable [ame=http://youtube.com/watch?v=BcbJOkeyKBA]video evidence[/ame] (external link) available by making a simple call to the broadcasters, a complaint against Ponting for unfairly claiming a catch, and further defending his "integrity" and insisting that the catch was 100 per cent fair? Or does responsibility for ensuring that the game is played in the right spirit merely vest with some captains, but not with others? Earlier story: In the aftermath of the dramatic events of Sunday, during the last day's play in the second Test between India and Australia in Sydney, Australian captain Ricky Ponting has had much to say-- and the bulk of his statements constitute a defence of his own integrity. Ponting, then fielding at silly point, had dived to hold a ball that ballooned off Mahendra Singh Dhoni's [Images] pads; he got to his feet and vociferously claimed the catch, though replays at the time indicated he had grounded the ball. That could have been justified as happening in the heat of the moment - but later in the day, after play, and with the benefit of video replays to draw from, Ponting not only maintained that he had caught it clean, but suggested that an Indian journalist who had questioned the catch "shouldn't be standing there". "There's no way I grounded that ball," Ponting told a press conference. "If you're actually questioning my integrity in the game, then you shouldn't be standing there." A while later, he reiterated his conviction that the catch was clean. "I'm saying I'm 100% sure I would have caught that catch off Dhoni," Ponting said. "As it turned out it was given not out anyway, am I right or wrong?" To give that question the shortest possible answer, he is wrong. Here is a picture, sent in by a Rediff regular, that sets the issue beyond doubt: What is startling about the picture is not that the ball is touching the ground, but that a prone Ponting actually has his eye directed towards it. In other words, Ponting clearly had to have been aware that he had grounded the catch - and yet, even with the benefit of hindsight, he not only claims otherwise, but suggests that his integrity cannot be questioned.

[Ram]

Is Roebuck an Aussie ? I thought he was an englishman ?

[Brainfade]

I disagree with Gavaskar when he says that the umpire should not trust Ponting because he didn't walk. The umpire should not trust the fielding captain under ANY circumstance. Either make up your own mind or follow the rule book and ask the square-leg umpire (even if he IS Bucknor) or signal for the rectangle. Asking the fielding captain is the most ridiculous way of coming to a decision.