Cricket Australia’s selectors have named a 13-man Australian squad for the next two One Day matches, with Ricky Ponting dropped after a torrid series.
The matches against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday 24 February, and against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday 26 February will see Shane Watson make his long awaited return, while Michael Clarke returns to the captaincy after injury.
Mitchell Starc has also been forced out, with Ryan Harris taking his place, and Peter Forrest retains his place.
Commenting on the squad, National Selector John Inverarity said: “The NSP had a telephone link up this morning to select the ODI Squad for the game[s] against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Friday and against India in Sydney on Sunday.
“Ricky Ponting has been dropped from the squad due to his lack of form in the five matches to date in this series. The team will not seem the same without him, but moving on from the omission of players who have been outstanding over a long period of time is the nature of elite sport.
“Ricky’s record speaks for itself. He is one of the truly great performers in the history of Australian ODI cricket, with his reputation enhanced further by him captaining Australia to two World Cup victories.
“Ricky’s contribution goes far beyond his batting statistics and his brilliant fielding. The example he sets in every respect and his extraordinarily positive influence in the dressing-room is acknowledged by all. He is held in the highest possible regard by his team-mates and there is no higher accolade than this.
“Ricky being prepared to take over the captaincy in Michael Clarke’s recent absence for the sake of the team is yet another example of his selfless attitude and team-first focus.
“Ryan Harris has been re-included in the squad with Mitchell Starc making way for his return. Mitchell will benefit greatly from the Tests and the ODIs he has played. His development as a player of the future is most encouraging.
“Shane Watson also comes back into the squad. He is an all-rounder of proven class and the NSP is keen to have him re-join the squad.
“The NSP made the decision that Matthew Wade is now the preferred ODI wicket-keeper for the Australian ODI team. The intention at this stage is to have both Matthew and Brad Haddin in the West Indies together for the duration of the tour,” he said.
Full Australian squad:
Michael Clarke – Captain (NSW)
Shane Watson – Vice-captain (NSW)
Dan Christian (SA)
Xavier Doherty (TAS)
Peter Forrest (QLD)
Ryan Harris (QLD)
Ben Hilfenhaus (TAS)
David Hussey (VIC)
Michael Hussey (WA)
Brett Lee (NSW)
Clint McKay (VIC)
Matthew Wade (VIC)
David Warner (NSW)
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- Australian Cricket, Cricket, One day cricket, Ricky Ponting
February 20th 2012 @ 4:26pm
Ryan O'Connell said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
3 World Cup wins, 2 as captain. An average of 42, with 30 hundreds. One of the best one day fieldsman of all time, if not the best.
Ricky has absolutely nothing left to prove in this form of the game, and would make most people’s all-time One Day side.
He can leave ODI’s with his head held as high as humanly possible.
February 20th 2012 @ 4:28pm
Matt F said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:28pm | Report comment
Well said. Whatever the criticisms of his recent performances, he has been an absoulte champion ODI ODI player for Australia. Now means that he can focus all his time on test cricket, which will hopefully mean he can continue his test form from this summer.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:21pm
MrKistic said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:21pm | Report comment
The time to do that would have been immediately after the world cup. It will be very sad if the same thing happens to him in the test arena.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:36pm
Brett McKay said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:36pm | Report comment
really well said, mate, completely agree..
February 20th 2012 @ 5:53pm
Brendon said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:53pm | Report comment
For Australia in ODI’s he has the most runs (2nd overall), centuries (2nd overall), matches played and catches. Why he didn’t retire after the world cup I dont know. Why didnt the selectors after the world cup tell him to retire and focus on tests. After Tendulkar and Vic Richards hes probably the best ODI batsman of all time.
February 20th 2012 @ 9:30pm
Lolly said | February 20th 2012 @ 9:30pm | Report comment
I’m glad they’ve dropped him, but he’s had a career in ODI that is the stuff of dreams .There is hardly anyone who can leave this form of the game with their head held higher than Punter.
February 20th 2012 @ 4:26pm
Matt F said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
Wow. I’m genuinely stunned that they made this call. It’s the right call but still……
Interesting comments about Haddin’s future as well.
February 20th 2012 @ 4:34pm
Brett McKay said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:34pm | Report comment
there’s some decidedly unmixed messages in those statements…
February 20th 2012 @ 5:03pm
Red Kev said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:03pm | Report comment
True, someone has obviously had a word to Inverarity about being 100% clear.
Kind of takes all the fun out of speculating however.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:35pm
Brett McKay said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:35pm | Report comment
So what will you write about now Kev?!?
February 20th 2012 @ 5:42pm
Red Kev said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:42pm | Report comment
Vas was requesting an article on Clarke’s latest tattoo…
February 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm
Matt F said | February 20th 2012 @ 6:30pm | Report comment
Something as important as that clearly requires a series of articles Kev
February 20th 2012 @ 4:37pm
Nick said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:37pm | Report comment
Almost sad to Ricky go in a way will be interesting to see if he can force his way back in but i somehow doubt it, pleased that he has been able to find some form in the tests however as that will help get the fickle Australian media off his back to an extent.
Im a bit disappointed by the dropping of Starc as I really feel that he is one of the better one day bowling options I would rather Hilfenhaus and especially Harris because of his injury problems be resigned to just playing test cricket as i still feel he is one of Australians best bowling option if not the best.
Fascinating about Haddin, can’t say I’m surprised really as when Paine was fit he was almost first choice in the shorter forms wasn’t he?
February 20th 2012 @ 9:19pm
Lolly said | February 20th 2012 @ 9:19pm | Report comment
Starc hasn’t been that effective in this series but it’s been good experience for him. I hope he has time to play in the Ryobi at the WACA now.
With Pattinson, Cummins and some of the other bowlers around domestically, there are plenty of young seamers in the mix.
February 20th 2012 @ 4:37pm
sledgeross said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:37pm | Report comment
Since when did they pick 2 keepers for a tour these days. Watch your back Hadds!
February 20th 2012 @ 4:40pm
Monisha said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:40pm | Report comment
I would have preferred to see Ponting opt out rather than being dropped. Still, he is a legend and of course, stats don’t lie. But future of the team has to be kept in view, not the individual players. Australia will always be proud of Ricky Ponting ! So are his fans
February 20th 2012 @ 5:55pm
Brendon said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:55pm | Report comment
Ponting wont go willingly. Well, Steve Waugh didn’t go willingly either. He was more or less instructed by the selectors to retire at the end of the 2002-03 India tour. The selectors should have told Ponting to retire after the world cup.
February 20th 2012 @ 4:49pm
Renegade said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:49pm | Report comment
I wonder if this means that all the armchair critics of Ponting and the NSP will finally shut up….
February 20th 2012 @ 5:06pm
Vas Venkatramani said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
LOL we can dream Renegade.
No doubt they’ll move onto another pet peeve, be it something important such as Mike Hussey losing form, or something innocuous as Michael Clarke’s newest tattoo…
February 20th 2012 @ 4:53pm
Subramanya said | February 20th 2012 @ 4:53pm | Report comment
They could have just said they have rested him & not droppeed. He is such a gem of a player who’s helped Australia when needed. Please guive some respect to the man who took Australian Cricket Captaincy to the next level.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:06pm
Matt F said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
Inverarity’s press conference was quite interesting. Apart from the odd bit about “the door never being closed yet at the same time it pretty much is closed” (paraphrasing somewhat there) it was very interesting to hear that Ricky will take a day or two to decide on his future before making an announcement in the next few days. Inverarity seemed to indicate that, whilst they’d like Ricky to kep going in test matches, they’re not 100% sure if he will play on or decide to retire completely. He’ll probably just retire from ODI’s but Inverarity did raise a complete retirement as a possibility.
Interesting comments about Haddin as well. Basically they “rested” Haddin to see how Wade would go and they’ve been so impressed with him that he’s now the regular ODI keeper. At the moment Haddin will go to the WIndies with Wade but he didn’t give any guarantees that Haddin would be the first choice.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:59pm
Brendon said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:59pm | Report comment
Ponting will play on. Hes 6 tests behind Steve Waugh as most capped Australian player.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:08pm
Johnno said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
Bad decision let punter bat forever if he wants, he is our best since Bradman, and he should get the same privileges, Alan Border, and Steve waugh got. His spot is there as long as he wants it like Tendulkar with India, as long as the little master wants it.
February 20th 2012 @ 5:34pm
Brett McKay said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:34pm | Report comment
Johhno, Border was dropped on return from a South African tour but not actually told about it for a month or so (and only confirmed when a TV reporter got wind of it), and Steve Waugh had been out of the ODI side for a couple of seasons by the time he retired from Tests. I’m not sure they’re the examples you’re looking for here…
February 20th 2012 @ 5:58pm
Brendon said | February 20th 2012 @ 5:58pm | Report comment
Border was allowed to play on to get the chance of touring South Africa. But you’re right. He had no choice in the matter and was told to retire.
February 20th 2012 @ 10:02pm
Andyc said | February 20th 2012 @ 10:02pm | Report comment
Border averaged 38 on that tour, of the batsmen only Mark Taylor 24,25 averaged less.
February 20th 2012 @ 9:03pm
Dubble Bubble said | February 20th 2012 @ 9:03pm | Report comment
I’d have to respectfully disagree with you. As soon as the team is better off without a particular player than with – he goes. It doesn’t matter what they have done for the team. Not even Bradman . Selection should not be about what have you done for the team but what you can do for the team.