Why It Is Time To Say Goodbye To Ponting

2 Comments 10 May 2012

lead image: Kemar Roach dismisses Ricky Ponting (C) AFP

Having recently witnessed Ricky Ponting in the Caribbean, GARFIELD ROBINSON thinks it’s time for the former Australian captain to call it a day.

In 1981, at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, boxing great Muhammad Ali entered the ring for the last time. His opponent was Trevor Berbick, a Jamaican who few thought belonged in the same ring as the great champion. In the end, Berbick won easily, by unanimous decision. Ali was but a shadow of his former self. Yes he got in a few punches, and might even have won the fifth and sixth rounds; he danced a little too, to remind fans of the performer he once was. But his powers had waned. Ali was no longer Ali.

I was reminded of Ali’s decline recently as I watched Ricky Ponting play in the Caribbean. Australia’s greatest batsman since Bradman had nothing like the command at the crease that was once his hallmark. Where he was once calm, positive and assured, he was now hurried and uncertain.

Not all the time: during his 41 in Trinidad he looked more fluent than at any other time in the series. He punished anything on his legs and even unsheathed a pull-shot or two, as if to remind the fans that he still had it. But, for the most part, it was clear to all who have watched him throughout the years: Ponting was no longer Ponting.

In the first innings of the Trinidad test Roach, continuing their battle from the last West Indies tour of Australia, got him with a peach of a delivery. Ponting was squared up by a delivery that angled in and landed on off-stump, then straightened and bounced—one that would probably have defeated him in his prime as well.

What epitomized his troubles to me, however, was a delivery he faced a few minutes earlier. Roach had bowled a short ball that he top-edged and skied trying to pull. It wasn’t a particularly quick delivery but the renowned punisher of everything short seemed harried. In his prime, he would have been on his back foot almost as soon as the ball was released, waited, and then decided which boundary board he would disturb, or where in the stands the ball would have to be retrieved.

Die-hard fans of Ponting would no doubt point out that not long ago he scored two hundreds, including a mammoth 221, and averaged 108 in a series against India. Yet they would have to agree that India’s bowling attack was one of the most inept to visit Australia in years. Michael Clarke team’s next test engagements will be against South Africa in November, and one does not expect their highly lethal bowling unit to mimic the impotence of the Indians. Australia’s selectors have a decision to make.

Well, not just one because their openers need to be looked at as well. But in my view Ponting needs to remove himself from the side before November or the selectors should respectfully ask him to go. Respectfully, because he has been a feared and faithful warrior in Australia’s cause and so cannot be cast away lightly. The run-of-the-mill player is easier to handle in such circumstances. Aware that their abilities were limited to begin with, they, and their fans, find separation less traumatic. The dominating player, on the other hand, sometimes fails to come to terms with their diminishing powers, and their fans often cling to the folklore long after the final chapter should have been closed.

And if the question then becomes, who is it that is ready to replace him, then I would answer that it doesn’t matter. Heroes should not be allowed to regress to the point where they become unrecognizable.

Not that his legacy is in jeopardy—Muhammad Ali is still the greatest. But just as it saddened boxing devotees to see one of the sport’s icons dominated by a lumbering journeyman, Ponting should ensure that he is not made to look anything other than the great player that he undoubtedly is.

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No Comments 21 February 2012

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World Cricket Opinion

Waugh about Warner, Ponting, and the Australian Captaincy

1 Comment 17 February 2012

lead image (c) news.com.au

MATTHEW WOOD, of Balanced Sports, take up the debate about who should captain Australia in Michael Clarke’s absence. Matt tweets @balanced_sports.

Steve Waugh has recently questioned the Australian selection panel in regards to their handling of the captaincy and of ousted wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. He is well within his right to, considering his personal achievements and stature in the game.

Up until Ricky Ponting – the man whose temporary institution he contests – the opinions of most Australian captains are considered continuing testament to the spirit of cricket. It speaks volumes of the man that Waugh’s thoughts are said to represent the spirit of the game moreso than any of his contemporaries.

While Brad Haddin has reasons to be aggrieved regarding his “resting”, Waugh’s comments regarding the Warner/Ponting captaincy dichotomy are far from accurate.

Cricket Australia, especially post-Argus, has several structures in place to ensure strong leadership. Although these structures are in place for a reason – in this case, ostensibly Warner’s education – the fact is that he doesn’t command the tactical respect of his comrades. While Ponting’s tenure could hardly be described as strong (c.f. Fabio Capello) he still inspires ultimate respect both as a cricketer and as a cricket brain.

The fact is there is no clear leader emerging to succeed Clarke. There needs not be at this point, as the Australian captain is 30 and with several years of high-class cricket in front of him. A second statement could be equally true: there is no need for a clear leader to emerge with Clarke at least five years from retirement. This is especially true considering his reign as le dauphin could quite accurately be said to have destabilised the Australian team rather than the intended opposite.

Indeed there is somewhat of a leadership vacuum in those players of Clarke’s vintage. George Bailey, Andrew McDonald and Cameron White fail to command a place on form, while a possible logical successor, Steve O’Keeffe, is yet to make his mark on the national team. Warner, who captains the Big Bash’s Sydney Thunder, is the best of those in the current framework: a guy who regularly looks to hook wide bumpers the first ball after drinks breaks.

By extension, Ponting is the best candidate for the job – especially now Clarke has cemented his authority. There should be no quibbling about the next generation or confusing structures, but the captaincy is such an award we should be careful to whom it is awarded. It needs to reward for effort and talent, not a prize given for potential. Do we want to be like England of the 1980s, where the likes of Chris Cowdrey have led their nation?

Although Warner has achieved much in the past six months, he does not deserve – yet – the honour of leading his country in what was once the world’s leading form of cricket.

Columns

Australia v India Day 3 – A view from the media box

No Comments 28 December 2011

INDIA 282

Before we get a chance to settle, Dravid has departed. It seems that the construction workers were late in setting up the wall this morning. It’s an enormous wicket in the context of this game, when Tendulkar and Dravid were in full swing yesterday it seemed as though nothing could stop them, but Australia, even in this new era, always do have an ability to make things happen.

Looking at VVS Laxman as he strides to the crease it strikes me as odd that his numbers aren’t better than they are. A colleague in the box rightly points out that he bats at number five, but still the fact that he averages under 50 and that he has only made 17 centuries is surprising. He reminds me a little of Mark Waugh actually. Like Laxman, Waugh could make batting look so easy, but at times looked like he wasn’t interested in proceedings. Laxman can look imperious at times, but this morning he looks incredibly rusty and like he wishes he was still enjoying a buffet breakfast at his hotel.

There is a general sense of confusion in the box this morning as India’s batsmen get themselves out at regular intervals. The overall feeling is that whilst the bowling was solid it was probably down to some lazy footwork, particularly on the part of Laxman.

As Dhoni strides confidently to the middle, Dave Siddall raises the question of who the best wicket-keeper in test cricket is today. The general consensus seems to be Matt Prior from England, though for old times sake I throw up Mark Boucher. Discussion then turns to Kamran Akmal and one of the gents alerts us to an extraordinary video showing Akmal’s propensity for bending the rules. I think also of Zulqarnain Haider whose story was so sad. A player who had the confidence to speak up about the problems in Pakistani cricket, Haider’s family had to flee his home country and Haider was penalised for leaving an active series in the UAE to protect them. Much of course has been written about the overall problems of Pakistani cricket, but it is these personal stories that really hit home.

It’s hard to believe that a team that worked so hard to build itself up to the number one test team in the world would crumble so pathetically. A lot of the time this kind of looseness is attributed to players being too used to limited overs cricket, but that can’t be said of Dravid, Laxman, Tendulkar or even Zaheer Khan, whose dismissal was nothing short of a disgrace. As he cleared the front foot whilst trying to hit the ball to the next suburb, he had his stumps smashed and walked off as if someone had done him a disservice. What makes his shot even worse is the fact that Ashwin can do more than just hold a bat.

AUSTRALIA 8/179

Australia’s approach after lunch is interesting because it has seemed that no one is ever really ‘in’ on this pitch. That said, India’s approach is important too, and it is more than perplexing that in Zaheer Khan’s first over Dhoni has only two slips in place. It’s a strange thing about Dhoni that someone who seems so flashy in life and particularly with his batting can be so defensive in his field placements. On a recent One Hand One Bounce cricket podcast, Michael Wagener from www.cricket.geek.nz noted that Ross Taylor, whilst being a slashing batsman, was in fact quite conservative himself. Even if that is the case, I can’t believe he would come out in such an important part of the game and be so negative in his approach as Dhoni was after lunch here.

On what is quite a benign pitch these teams have somehow managed to lose wickets galore and in the media box we struggle to make sense of what is happening. Perennial foot-in-mouth-er Tony Greig tweets that there is grass on the pitch and that India are ‘flat track bullies’. Tony must’ve been asleep under his big hat when Tendulkar and Dravid made batting look like the easiest thing in the world.

I took a walk around the ground late in the second session as the two old stalwarts, Ponting and Hussey, attempted to wrest back control of the match. The crowd’s reaction was very positive, more so even than the reaction to the current Australian captain. Despite the media rhetoric, the public do still seem to support Ponting and I’m sure that must keep him hungry to succeed. Test cricket has an extraordinary way of throwing up the unexpected and nothing was more out of the blue than the effervescent partnership between Hussey and Ponting. Suddenly, the demons in the pitch were gone and the Indian bowling attack looked more like the toothless crew that many were expecting. Hussey has an amazing energy to his play and we enjoy his innings as much as the adoring crowd.

Geoff Lawson rightly described Haddin as playing ‘dumb cricket’. It makes you wonder whether Haddin either:

has a never-ending licence to bat exactly how he sees fit, or
completely disregards his teammates and coaches plea’s to bat responsibly.

Either way, he is a curiously stupid cricketer who seems really to bat for himself without regard for the position of his team.

I love the late period of the middle days in test matches. There is, after a day such as today, a real satisfaction with the show that has been put on, but there is also a sense of anticipation. Probably only golf can compete in this sense, but even then there is not really the same sense of continuity as everyone simply starts again. On the other hand, test cricket might suggest that the status quo will continue, but we all know that is far from the truth. Either way, this match is deliciously poised and I look forward to providing you with another view from the box tomorrow when this match will likely come to a close.

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