Ponting won’t challenge Julia Gillard, unless he does
Columnist By Geoff Lemon, 21 Feb 2012 Geoff Lemon is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting axed from ODIs, but the door isn't closed, and Ponting isn't going anywhere just yet (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
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In the end, Ricky Ponting’s hyped press conference was smoke and mirrors. Speculation over his future can be dragged out to match Kevin Rudd’s. The media would be delighted.
News outlets were keenly suggesting that the conference could mean a Ponting retirement. In the limited time available of a Tuesday morning, the hype was stirred up as best it could.
In the end, we were treated to a series of inconclusive responses and things we already know.
Ponting told us he had been dropped from the one-day international side, as Michael Clarke and Shane Watson came back in. We already knew that.
He told us he would keep playing Test cricket. We already knew that.
Speculation of his retirement from all forms was always going to prove unfounded, given the summer Ponting had enjoyed, and the long purgatory he had endured to get there.
Only six of the current ODI squad are Test players. Unless your name is Brad Haddin, there is no particular reason why one dropping should presage another.
Crucially, though, Ponting never uttered the word ‘retire’. On being asked if he was retiring, Ponting said such a statement would be disingenuous given he had been dropped.
The selectors, looking to the World Cup in 2015, had “made it clear where they’re heading with the one day team, and that I’m not part of their plans.”
Indeed. But dropping does not preclude a recall, and nothing in Ponting’s conference said that he was no longer an option. As FBi Radio’s sports account posted on Twitter, “Ricky Ponting announces he will no longer be available for games he is not selected in. Any questions?”
Preliminary reports used some nimble footwork to get around the ambiguity, saying that Ponting “does not expect” to play ODIs again, or was “no longer in selectors’ plans.”
But unless the chairman of selectors John Inverarity was having another attack of vagueness, as per Haddin’s ‘resting’, his comments yesterday certainly left the door ajar.
“The door is never closed on anybody,” Inverarity had said, pre-empting my door-based metaphor. “We’re not ruling him out because one never knows what’s around the corner.”
In a perfect selectorial world, of course, the new players will gel and the existing ones will maintain form. But it only takes a few injuries to key personnel to drastically alter a team’s outlook.
A couple more Ponting opuses, accompanied by Watson’s pinging hamstrings and the twang of Clarke’s lower back, and suddenly the selectors could be looking for a new lead violin.
And while his presser never expressed the hope that such an offer would come, does anyone doubt that Ponting would take it?
“I’m firmly of the belief that I’ve got a lot to offer any cricket team that I play in, “ said Ponting this morning, while also saying that he would play in one-day domestic matches for Tasmania.
The clearest statement we got was “I don’t expect to play one-day international cricket for Australia any more and I’m pretty sure the selectors don’t expect to pick me either.”
Pretty sure. Don’t expect. In the meantime, we have a player who is determined to carry on in any form of the game for as long as his ability will sustain him. He will keep putting performances in front of selectors.
Depending on those performances, given the lack of any really dominant batting in domestic cricket, he may well put pressure on those selectors to grant him a reprieve.
So what do we have? Ricky Ponting is not expecting to be a one-day player… for now. Ricky Ponting is content to take the role he’s been given… for now. Ricky Ponting is content not doing the job that he doesn’t have, as long as he doesn’t have it. Meaning everything will carry on the way it is. Unless it doesn’t.
What was the point of the press conference? Nothing. An invitation for journalists to build suppositions on an absence of any substance. For those who follow the 24-hour news cycle out of Canberra, it all sounded awfully familiar.
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The Crowd Says (20) | Page 1 of Comments
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- Explore:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Ricky Ponting
February 21st 2012 @ 11:51am
Rhys said | February 21st 2012 @ 11:51am | Report comment
Geoff, I’m expecting a YouTube video any hour exposing Ponting’s furious behind the scenes tantrums, and the number crunching is already underway from a well known power broker within the Australian team re. a possible Ponting comeback. Blood, sweat, and tears will flow in the dressing room before this saga is over.
February 21st 2012 @ 1:52pm
Geoff Lemon said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:52pm | Report comment
In the meantime, Abbott is bowling for New South Wales.
February 21st 2012 @ 11:59am
Vas Venkatramani said | February 21st 2012 @ 11:59am | Report comment
Geoff, I was thinking the same thing. The only thing I can think about what this presser achieved is that Ponting gave enough answers to what his intentions were:
1) He does not expect to play ODI cricket again for Australia
2) He still wants to achieve “redemption” in the Ashes in 2013
3) He enthusiasm for the game is still vibrant
The interesting thing that apart from committing to play for Tasmania, Ponting gave no indication on whether he’d pick up any overseas appointments with either an English county or some T20 side to keep match fitness. He spoke more about “having to figure out how to best prepare for a Test with months between games.
I’d love for him to pick up a county deal this winter to help him prepare for the next home summer.
February 21st 2012 @ 12:21pm
Alison said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Vas – he addressed the issue of county cricket quite clearly – perhaps you’d nodded off for a minute. He said it’s an “outside chance” to play county cricket, but mainly because their season starts in a couple of months and they’d have their international players sorted already (remember, county rules have tightened in recent years regarding how many internationals can play).
Ponting will take any opportunity he can to play cricket so that he is ready for Australia. His worst nightmare would be to turn up unprepared and out of form for an Australian game, and be dropped before he’s ready to leave.
February 21st 2012 @ 12:25pm
Matt F said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:25pm | Report comment
He gave a fair indication of his county options Vas. Hesaid he hadn’t thought about it too much but said that it most teams would already have their international quota filled, and that it would be an “outside chance.” Given his young family, I wouldn’t blame him if he decided to only play for Tasmania before the SA series. There should be 1-3 SS matches before then anyway.
You’re generally correct though. It was a press conference that didn’t really offer much. I think it was organised so that Ponting could deal with the media all at once rather then have them keep calling him and his manager at all hours, like they would have been doing last night.
February 21st 2012 @ 12:33pm
Brett McKay said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
Matt, his “..and I’d imagine most County sides have already filled their overseas spots” comment was as good a piece of press conference fishing as I’ve heard in a while – ALL the counties that haven’t filled all spots will have made contact by COB today..
February 21st 2012 @ 12:40pm
Matt F said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:40pm | Report comment
Very true! I didn’t think of it that way at the time.
February 21st 2012 @ 1:24pm
Red Kev said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:24pm | Report comment
Yeah I missed that – superb work by his manager to insert that line (you just know he rehearsed how to drop the hint).
February 21st 2012 @ 12:29pm
Brett McKay said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
Vas, while he didn’t say it directly, I reckon there was also an element of stopping six weeks of “will he go to the West Indies or not” specualtion before it starts…
February 21st 2012 @ 12:41pm
Chris said | February 21st 2012 @ 12:41pm | Report comment
I don’t think anyone seriously thought he wouldn’t get picked for the Windies after the summer he’s just had. He’s also made it clear he will never retire from the Test team, so he’s effectively dared the selectors to drop him. All I hope is that the selectors pick players on form, not past glories and/or reputations.
February 21st 2012 @ 1:09pm
Rhys said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:09pm | Report comment
If he’s daring the selectors to drop him, rather than retire, it’s a dare that eventually he will lose – even if it takes 2-3 years – he can’t play forever. I hope that if there’s an inkling that his place in the team is in doubt that Ponting will put aside his mule-like stubborness and retire with grace. The Steve Waugh ending is more preferable to the Mark Waugh version – for everyone concerned.
February 21st 2012 @ 1:22pm
Red Kev said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
It’s not a dare, nor is it a declaration that “he will never retire from the Test team” as Chris puts it.
I view it as Ponting simply does not want the responsibility of calling time on his career (of course ultimately he is responsible because his form will dictate his retention in the side); but Ponting will not end his career while he still enjoys playing cricket. So he is saying (and has probably said in far more explicit terms to the selectors) that “I will continue to play cricket for Australia for as long as you continue to select me.”
There is nothing wrong with that, in fact he is forcing the selectors to actually do their job and select the team.
Now that situation may change in the future – home life may intrude, he may lose his drive to play at the top level, he may suddenly find he has more of a passion as a coach in Mowbray or any of a hundred other things, but for now, Ponting’s passion is playing for Australia and as long as he is allowed to by the selectors he will continue to play test cricket.
I can’t fault him for that (I may not agree with the selectors, but Ponting himself has been 100% clear and honest).
February 21st 2012 @ 1:31pm
roarr said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:31pm | Report comment
Surely we could have given him this friday’s game in Hobart?
The bloke won us 3 world cups, has played 374 games, averages over 40… inverarity said he was reluctant to take the captaincy for the last two games but almost did it as a favour to the selectors. Then he gets the arse? Bit rough i think.
Sure if he scored runs in Hobart it would have made things a bit awkward… but give him one more game on his home turf in the green and gold.
February 21st 2012 @ 1:49pm
Geoff Lemon said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:49pm | Report comment
I don’t even really associate Ponting with Hobart that much, to be honest… he’s a Lonnie boy. If he was to want a fond farewell somewhere, it’d be more likely to be one of the grand scenes of his great exploits at Melbourne or Sydney than a quiet match at Bellerive.
February 21st 2012 @ 4:26pm
langou said | February 21st 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
I hate the concept of farewell matches. If your not in the best 11, you are not in the best 11. Bad luck
February 21st 2012 @ 1:47pm
Johnno said | February 21st 2012 @ 1:47pm | Report comment
Johnno, engage brain before writing dribble. Please think about how you come across when your paragraphs are gibberish. There is an intelligent person in there somewhere – let him do the typing. Thanks, Roar Mods.
February 21st 2012 @ 6:23pm
jamesb said | February 21st 2012 @ 6:23pm | Report comment
“What was the point of the press conference? Nothing.”
Actually the point of the press conference is to tell everyone that he wants to bat on.
This has ended speculation about whether he goes to the windies or not, and also he has done a few reporters a favour by not chasing after him at an airport somewhere.
I think its great news that he is continuing. When you look at recent shiled matches, there has been many batting collapses.
No one at this stage is putting their hand up. Alot of articles have been dedicated that Ponting should go, especially from someone like Malcolm Conn, and yet theres very few articles that recommend who could replace Ponting.
I want Ponting to be judged on a series by series basis. Whether he gets to the ashes or not, at least he is giving some breathing space for the younger batsman to stake a claim, because right now IMO, there’s not too many that are ready to play test cricket.
February 21st 2012 @ 9:29pm
Geoff Lemon said | February 21st 2012 @ 9:29pm | Report comment
But we already knew he wanted to bat on in Tests. He’d made a double-century last start, and said at the time that he was glad to be back amongst the runs and wasn’t considering retiring. Later he was dropped from the one-day side. Why would that suddenly change his outlook on Tests?
February 21st 2012 @ 8:41pm
sheek said | February 21st 2012 @ 8:41pm | Report comment
Hi Geoff,
All we needed was for Donald Rumsfeld to turn up & declare: “There are the known knowns, the unknown knowns, the known unknowns & finally the unknown unknowns”…..
February 21st 2012 @ 9:27pm
Geoff Lemon said | February 21st 2012 @ 9:27pm | Report comment
Sheek, a man of your distinction may appreciate the finesse of The Poetry of Donald Rumsfeld. Read on…
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/low_concept/2003/04/the_poetry_of_dh_rumsfeld.html