Call for Ponting to rest during Games with Little at Stake

Nothing highlights the importance of the ashes more than the recent Herald Sun article calling for Rick Ponting to rest during matches that have little at stake.

The call comes in the hope that Ponting would be able to finish off a successful career by trying to win the ashes on home soil in 2010-11.

The article by Jon Pierik is as follows:

THERE'S arguably been no greater street-fighter than Ricky Ponting in Australian cricket, but not even he is immune to the ravages of time.

Soon to turn 34, the Australian captain may have another two years left at the top if he looks after himself and decides what really is important to him.

That must be retaining the Ashes next year in England and ending his glorious career in one final stoush for the famous urn on Australian soil in 2010-11.

This means he must dedicate himself to Test cricket, but Australia may have to use the model adopted by India and Sachin Tendulkar to help him negotiate limited overs and Twenty20 cricket.

Once this summer is over, Australia plays three Tests in South Africa and five in England. Ponting must lead in all.

There's also a Twenty20 World Cup in England on the eve of the Ashes. He must also be there for that.

But surely there needs to be a rethink on whether he is required for five one-day matches in South Africa, seven in England after the Ashes, the rescheduled Champions Trophy tournament and another mindless one-day series in India.

Michael Clarke, 27, has done a good job already in his brief appearances as stand-in skipper, and can continue to develop in this role when Ponting takes a breather.

"There has never been a better time to be a state cricketer," said one CA official recently.

"There's so much cricket for Australia, there's bound to be injuries. But is that a good thing that blokes who may not really deserve to take that step up will be given more opportunities?"

The cricketing public wants to see great and entertaining players, like Ponting, play all the time.

But that's now impossible because of ridiculously crowded schedules.

However, there is no need for Ponting to go cold turkey on one facet of the game - as Tendulkar has from international Twenty20 matches.

Ponting is still one of the game's premier fieldsmen and athletes, as his scorching catch in Adelaide proved, so it's just plain silly to bypass international Twenty20.

But what he may have to do is reconsider his commitment to the riches of the Indian Premier League. Ponting has been told by medicos he needs rest to help heal his aching right wrist. He has also battled back and ankle injuries in recent years.

But will the lure of almighty dollar prove too great?

End of Herald Sun article.

Even if Ponting were to rest during mindless one day matches there is no guarantee that he will be around for the 2010-11 series.

I'm pretty sure that Ponting will be eyeing the game of international cricket as Hayden currently is, and that is one game at a time!

As a sportsman Ponting will want to play every match but will also know when he is mentally and physically drained. As long as he listens to his body he will continue to play world class cricket for a while yet.

But the 2010 ashes series will never be a guarantee.

Player Profile: Ricky Ponting

The Ashes 2009

Player Profiles and Predictions

by Chris Smith

Australian Captain

Ricky Ponting

Ponting has one of the best winning records of any captain in test cricket, but one wonders how long this will last and also if the winning record he has is down to his captaincy or being fortunate to have some of the greatest test cricketers of all time in his team. Some might say a combination of both, but I have always been of the opinion that Ponting is in fact a poor captain particularly with respect to his tactical acumen. This was shown in England in 2005 where Michael Vaughan captained him off the field and more recently in India in the fourth test. On the fourth day Australia had India reeling before tea and with wickets after tea might have had Australia looking at chasing a gettable target to level the series. Instead worrying about over rates, Ponting had his spinners on and even Michael Hussey’s medium pace and not his strike bowlers. Momentum was lost and Australia ended up chasing too many on the last day and subsequently lost the series. I have thought that for a long time, even with quality players Ponting has been a captain that has erred on the side of defence, which can let other teams gain the upper hand. He is also quick to lose his cool in situations that don’t favour his team, he gets easily upset, which can lead to a lack of focus on the field. This seems to be happening more often as wins are harder to come by.

One thing that is not in doubt, despite Harbajhan Singh’s ridiculous comments, is his batting quality and the respect of his players. I’m not sure how you can criticise a batsman who is averaging 57 in a test career spanning 124 matches. Ponting is truly a great batsman, with a good record against England, but perhaps not as good as you might imagine.

His main weakness in his batting is early on in his innings. Ponting has always had a pronounced forward movement when he bats and because of this can be unbalanced to begin with. This can cause two weaknesses that England can probe for at the start of his innings. The first is a tendency to play around his front pad early on, opening up lbw possibilities. This does get better as he goes through an innings though and Ponting then starts to become particularly severe on any balls bowled near his pads. The second is a problem dealing with a ball of extra bounce, just back of a length, I have seen him out a number of times caught in the gully off the shoulder of the bat. But again if the bowler is too short there is no better puller of the cricket ball in the game. The margins for error, as with most great players are small.

Ashes prediction

One of the leading run scorers in the series for Australia, only behind Michael Hussey. Ponting’s wicket will be of vital importance.

Expect Ponting to get frequently flustered when captaining in the field as his side will have many questions to answer without McGrath and Warne in English conditions.

Pontings test record (as of 24/11/08)

Overall: Matches: 124 Runs: 10386 Bat Ave: 57.06

Vs England: Matches: 26 Runs: 1978 Bat Ave: 48.40

Click these links to view our Ashes Preview or Rick Ponting's rival captain's profile and prediction for Kevin Pietersen

Australia down but not out for The Ashes?

There is an interesting article in today's Independent by John Townsend warning of the Australian teams depth; in it he states that Australia must recall Symonds now. Whilst I believe that Symonds is a world class all-round cricketer, I'm not sure he would bring enough to the bowling department to make that much of a difference in the area that Australia require it the most (namely spin). There is no doubt that Symonds will and should always feature on the current Australian team sheet but is he the saviour? I'm sure he will be back for the ashes!

Symonds is an excellent fielder and a dangerous batsmen (scoring runs at pace, which can always turn a game on it's head) but will his bowling tie up an end sufficiently? Don't forget in the past Australia didn't only tie up an end with spin or consistent bowling, they added huge amounts of pressure and quite often ripped through teams in the form of Warne. Australia have been blessed over the past few decades, having pairs of bowlers that can apply pressure and take wickets constantly during a test match with opposing batsmen getting very little rest bite. I was at Trent Bridge in 2005 on the Sunday when Warne almost bowled England out very cheaply; which would have put a completely different complexion on the ashes.

I personally wouldn't write Australia off for the Ashes yet; after all we are yet to see England out in India, we also need to wait and see how Australia bounce back for the third test (the Australia of old would come back at India and normally win). We shall have to see!

I must admit I loved the jibe about almost turning to Darren Pattinson; unfair on Darren but something that we all believe the England selectors deserved. That was a SHOCKER!!

The full article as it appears in the Independent is below:

Australia outfought in India but enough punch remains for Ashes
The Baggy Greens may appear to be sagging but England must be wary of their strength in depth

By John TownsendMonday, 27 October 2008

It says much about the state of Australian cricket that barely a year after the retirement of the greatest spinner in history, the nation is clamouring for an emergency call-up for a bowler who has spun out just a dozen batsmen at Test level.

Andrew Symonds is currently doing penance at state level for the heinous crime of going fishing rather than attending a team meeting on the eve of last month's instantly forgettable one-day series against Bangladesh. Given that players repeatedly complain that most team meetings consist of bowlers issuing prosaic reminders of the need to aim at the top of off and batsmen talking up the bleedin' obvious value of building partnerships, it is little surprise that Symonds preferred to hook a delicious barramundi rather than dissect, yet again, the minnows of world cricket.

No doubt there is more to the Symonds banishment, though the Australian public is yet to hear it. As English journalists at the Symonds press conference at the MCG during the last Ashes series would recall, a large store of anger seethes close to the surface of the all-rounder and he is often just one uncomfortable question, or extra beer, away from releasing it.
The refusal of Cricket Australia to consider selecting Symonds, referring to mysterious "medical and related issues", has polarised the country. Newspapers and talk radio have been filled to the hyperbolic brim with debate on the issue, with Tom Moody, the West Australian coach and recent Sri Lankan boss, speaking for many fans this week when he argued: "Australia must send an immediate SOS to Andrew Symonds if they want to pick their best team. India is the toughest place in world cricket to come from behind and when the Australian team is struggling for balance, form and cohesion, we simply can't afford to leave him out."

Symonds' absence is just one more complication for an Australian team facing the new age challenge of maintaining world-class standards without a host of world-class players. Shane Warne was best of class, Glenn McGrath arguably the same and Adam Gilchrist in a class of his own. There may be three new players standing under baggy green caps in their place but they cannot replace a trio whose standing and impact may not be matched for generations.

Underlining the difficulty of the search for replacements is the sobering fact that should another debutant – the seventh for the year – be included for either of the next two Tests, and that is highly likely given the magnitude of the 320-run loss at Mohali, Australia would not have tried more new players in a year than when World Series Cricket gutted playing stocks three decades ago.

Much like most Ashes series of recent times – except the 2005 anomaly, which has been scrubbed from Australian history books – there has been a sense of inevitability about the tour of India. But it has been from a position that England would find familiar: the hope of success tainted by a deep-seated sense that something is about to go badly wrong.

From the moment that the Australia selectors named a squad including an uncapped Jason Krejza (Jason who?), an uncapped 36-year-old, Bryce McGain, an uncapped Doug Bollinger, an uncapped Peter Siddle, a keeper with three Tests' experience, an injury-prone all-rounder who had not played for three years, a fast bowler going through an ugly marriage breakdown and a 36-year-old opener recuperating from a serious Achilles tendon injury, the country knew we were up against it. Crikey, things were so crook we nearly turned to Darren Pattinson.

Sure, Ricky Ponting is the best batsman in the world and Mike Hussey not far behind him; the pace attack is varied and versatile and Australia's fighting spirit and indomitable aura are worth an extra player. But as Moody pointed out, India on their own dung heap are a different proposition to the team that has traditionally toured as well as Guinness.

Ponting is realistic enough to recognise his remade team have to gel quickly, with the Border-Gavaskar and Ashes challenges looming. "We have got enough talent around Australia to maintain our No 1 ranking in Test cricket," Ponting said earlier this year. "I don't know how far we are in front but you would think, given what we have done for a fair period of time, that we would be a fair way in front. But how we adapt will determine how good a team we are."

Ponting was satisfied with the effort in the first Test when Australia had the better of the contest but was reluctant to risk an early declaration in a bid for victory. He remains a conservative captain but an inspirational one who has recovered from adversity before.

Australia are represented by a team who play hard, end careers and gather trophies. Record junior playing numbers attest to the positive impact the Baggy Greens have had on the nation's youth. We are going through a tough trot but don't rule out one or two of those youths having arrived by the time Steve Harmison threatens second slip with the first ball of the 2009 Ashes series.