New Zealand will enter next week’s first cricket Test in Brisbane as Kiwis, but also sacrificial lambs. The world’s seventh-ranked nation will almost certainly be beaten by an Australian team and captain stung by criticism and seeking redemption after defeat to India.

That was the case three years ago, when Australia’s response to losing the Ashes to England was to crush every opponent they faced for the next two years.

But during the period which Australia won 16 successive Tests, from October 2005 to January 2008, Ricky Ponting had Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Adam Gilchrist to call on, and there was daylight between his side and the rest.

Now he enters a pivotal stage of his career, with an ever-changing team entering a new era, with the challengers close.

Ponting will enter the Gabba Test motivated to prove his critics wrong, and if the opportunity arises, to go for the jugular.

It was that inability last weekend in Nagpur which prompted a remarkable outpouring of condemnation towards the Australian skipper.

Ponting’s decision to use part-time bowlers to speed up a tardy over-rate during the final Test, instead of using his front-liners when his side had the ascendancy, has been described as one of the most bewildering in the sport’s history in this country.

Speeding up play meant he avoided suspension, but in a match Australia had to win to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it also let India off the hook.

His critics have not been so forgiving.

Ian Chappell labelled day four the most bizarre he had seen in cricket and Allan Border was incredulous as he watched events unfold from the commentary box.

Steve Waugh said his successor would regret the move, while Shane Warne said Ponting had got it wrong by not going with his attacking instinct.

Even Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland sought an explanation, but was satisified with the skipper’s reasoning.

Ten months earlier, Ponting found himself under fire because his side was thought to pursue a win-at-all-costs attitude.

Victory at the SCG in a Test featuring disputed catches, racial abuse claims, over-zealous appealing and questionable umpiring decisions was followed by an accusation from India that Australia did not play in the right spirit.

The fall-out provided the most testing time of Ponting’s leadership.

Citing the two matches, he might consider himself in no-man’s land, but the events of Nagpur proved that namby-pamby cricket does not wash in a country that likes winning.

Former Australian coach John Buchanan, who oversaw the national side when Ponting assumed the Test captaincy in 2004, said the criticism was unjustified, and underlined the immaturity of reaction that accompanies a defeat.

(Australia’s series defeat in India was just their third this millennium, and Ponting’s winning strike-rate makes him one of Test cricket’s most successful leaders.)

“It does neither Ricky, the team, cricket any good to have people criticise as vehemently and as ignorantly as they have done,” said Buchanan, who said Ponting’s contentious decision was part of a the greater issue of poor over-rates.

“… It’s symptomatic of an immaturity in Australian society.

“We love our sporting heroes and place them on a pedestal. But we expect so much of them, when they don’t deliver … it’s perceived that Ricky Ponting’s made a poor decision.

“That’s a sad state of Australian society.

“There’s nothing wrong with critiquing, but the criticism that’s been levelled is different. It’s based on little information, no research, and I’d expect more from people who supposedly are experts in the game.”

Buchanan expected Ponting to be stung by the criticism, but to use it as fresh incentive.

“He’s been called selfish, been called a poor leader and there’s been silly things where papers are running internet polls on whether he should be retained as captain,” he said.

“He’s going to feel that definitely, but he’ll spend some time at home with his wife and new baby and try to distance himself from cricket.

“Then when he returns, he’ll be very clear on what’s required and what needs to be done.

“I know he will be driven by some of these criticisms that would have really hurt and stung him.”

During the 2005 Ashes, Ponting was pilloried, particularly in contrast to the Midas-like Michael Vaughan.

In the second Test at Edgbaston, he infamously sent England in after losing McGrath to injury. England scored 407 on day one and won the match by two runs.

In the third and fourth Tests, he was condemned for letting the game drift at key moments and setting defensive fields.

Back then, Chappell, Rod Marsh and Dennis Lillee were vocal in opposition, and former England skipper Mike Brearley - one of the greats - said Warne would have been more inspiring and creative in charge.

His detractors argue his captaincy-by-consensus - long chats with bowlers, pow-wows with senior teammates - exudes a lack of conviction, but his supporters argue that epitomises modern leadership practice.

With tough series against South Africa (home and away) and another Ashes tour in the next year, Australia will learn exactly where Ponting stands as a leader, especially as his side has been described as one in decline.

Ponting has responded once, and Buchanan expects him to rise again.

“He’s a person who’s always learning,” he said.

“He sits and learns and he listens and that’s how he gains information.

“He’s still doing that and he’s one that I definitely want to be around for a little bit longer yet as captain of Australia.”

Test cricket’s most successful captains (minimum 25 matches in charge):
Steve Waugh (AUST) 1999-2004, 57 matches, 41 wins, 9 losses, 7 draws, winning percentage 71.92, losing percentage 15.78
Ricky Ponting (AUST) 2004-08, 48 matches, 33 wins, 6 losses, 9 draws, winning percentage 68.75, losing percentage 12.50
Mike Brearley (ENG) 1977-81, 31 matches, 18 wins, 4 losses, 9 draws, winning percentage 58.06, losing percentage 12.90
Bill Woodfull (AUST) 1930-34, 25 matches, 14 wins, 7 losses, 4 draws, winning percentage 56, losing percentage 28
Viv Richards (WI) 1980-91, 50 matches, 27 wins, 8 losses, 15 draws, winning percentage 54, losing percentage 16
Shaun Pollock (RSA) 2000-03, 26 matches, 14 wins, 5 losses, 7 draws, winning percentage, losing percentage 19.23

Symonds was today welcomed back to the fray by being included in a 13-man squad, after being sent home from Darwin in August for fishing when he should have been in a team meeting, which also cost him a place on the Indian tour.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland and captain Ricky Ponting were delighted by the recall and said Symonds had proved he was ready to commit to the team after undergoing counselling and soul searching.

His inclusion would normally be ominous for Watson, as Symonds has been Australia’s preferred allrounder ever since Watson suffered a shoulder injury in the Brisbane Test three years ago.

But Watson’s breakthrough series in India means Symonds has to earn back his spot, although chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said it was possible both could play in Brisbane.

The selectors also included paceman Peter Siddle in the squad as cover for Brett Lee, who suffered from a virus in the final Test in Nagpur and has undergone blood tests.

Vice-captain Michael Clarke was also ill towards the end of the 2-0 series loss to India and has pulled out of tomorrow night’s Twenty20 exhibition match at the Gabba.

The selectors are confident both will recover for Thursday, while paceman Stuart Clark has been passed fit after sustaining an elbow injury in India.

Cameron White was dropped from the squad despite playing all four Tests in India, where he batted well at No.8 but had limited impact with his legspin.

Offspinner Jason Krejza was named after his 12-wicket haul in Nagpur, but might be a bit-part player at the Gabba, which should suit the fast bowlers.

Despite his brilliant debut, Krejza could even be squeezed out altogether if Australia play three quicks, plus Watson’s pace and Symonds’ spin, but Hilditch was keen for a specialist spinner.

Playing both allrounders plus Krejza would require either dropping a batsman or playing only two fast bowlers, with Watson the third quick.

Symonds at least gives Australia cover if Clarke does not pass fit.

Centre of Excellence coach Greg Chappell today called on selectors to break convention and play both.

“I don’t have any problem with that,” Chappell said.

“There will be times perhaps that it doesn’t work out that way, but it’s great - they both have the added incentive that they want to make sure they put themselves forward.”

Watson and Symonds rose in estimations after Australia yearned for a star allrounder after Andrew Flintoff led England to Ashes victory in 2005.

Watson played the first two home Tests of the 2005-06 summer before he was injured, which allowed Symonds to cement himself in the side.

Watson was to play in the first Ashes Test in 2006-07, but a hamstring injury meant he was replaced by Clarke, as Australia for a while played six specialist batsmen until Symonds replaced the retired Damien Martyn.

Symonds’ fishing episode gave Watson his chance after years of injury setbacks and he played every Test in India, making 170 runs at 24.28 at No.6 and claiming 10 wickets at 32.10.

Ponting said Watson’s encouraging tour meant he would start this series as first-choice allrounder.

“We saw how good a batsman he can be but more important, I think at different times he probably stood up to be our best bowler over there in those conditions,” he said.

“Obviously we’re confronted with different conditions here in Australia but he’s certainly done himself no harm, Shane Watson.”

But there is a groundswell of support for Symonds to be recalled, despite ordinary domestic form.

Hilditch said his return was exciting for Australian cricket while Ponting hailed him as a great player and team man.

Chappell was confident Symonds would play.

“I can’t imagine they would have picked him in the squad to make him 12th man,” he said.

“Under most circumstances you would want him in the team and I have no doubt that he’ll slot back into the team well.”

Asked if Symonds was picked on reputation, Hilditch said the selectors did not have to take the 33-year-old’s domestic form into account given his recent performances for his country.

“Selecting a great player, we don’t think he had anything to prove,” Hilditch said.

“I thought he was exceptional in Australia last year under some difficult circumstances (and) I thought he played really well in the West Indies Test series (in June-July).”

Australian squad: Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Stuart Clark, Brad Haddin, Matthew Hayden, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Jason Krejza, Brett Lee, Peter Siddle, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson.

The Football Federation of Australia (FFA) tonight confirmed van Egmond had breached the its national code of conduct when he confronted Glory striker Adrian Trinidad after the 2-2 draw at Members Equity Stadium.

The FFA has written to van Egmond, giving him 24 hours to explain his actions. It will decide his fate later this week.

The Jets coach was furious after Trinidad drew a penalty in the dying stages, enabling Perth to equalise, keeping both sides on 11 points at the bottom of the table.

After the game, van Egmond angrily confronted the Argentinean, which sparked a melee involving players and coaches from both sides.

If the FFA is not satisfied with van Egmond’s response, he could be fined or even suspended from the sidelines, like the then Adelaide coach, John Kosmina, was twice in the 2006-07 season.

Kosmina was banished to the stands for four games for grabbing Melbourne Victory skipper Kevin Muscat by the throat during a match in 2006, and then suspended from the sidelines for five games in 2007 for abusing referee Matthew Breeze.

Perth were also disappointed an opposition coach confronted one of their players. Glory chief executive Scott Gooch wrote to the FFA, although the club did not lodge a formal complaint.

“We were disappointed that the coach vented his frustrations at one of our players and pointed the finger,” Gooch said.

“He’s playing a game of football with a lot of passion and I suppose from a coaching point of view if he’s claiming that one of our players is showing a lack of sportsmanship he probably needs to look a little bit closer to home.

“… That sort of thing is not good for the game and it shouldn’t have happened.”

Trinidad’s penalty - after he fell to the ground when challenged by Jets captain Jade North - came amid calls for an end to “diving” in the A-League.

It also came just weeks after Kosmina, now coaching Sydney, accused Trinidad of “milking” an incident that led to Iain Fyfe being issued a red card.

Perth midfielder Adriano Pellegrino today said his teammate played within the rules, but admitted Trinidad was not one of the competition’s most popular players.

“I don’t think Adrian is the most liked player at the moment in the A-League,” he said.

“He reacted not so well after the game.

“He was a bit upset because everyone (the Jets players and coach) was barking up at him.

“It’s hard for him, he can’t really speak good English and a few of the boys were having a word to him after the penalty happened.”

In a season that continues to get worse for Newcastle, following Edmundo Zura’s return home to Ecuador last week, the Jets also fared worse on player suspensions.

It combines high-tech production to present excerpts from one of cricket’s most remarkable careers.

In the Cricket Found Me exhibit, a life-size hologram of Warne tells audiences about the most memorable moments, well garnished with self-mockery.

He admits he was a “bit of a fat bastard” when he made his Test debut, and says his epic delivery that bowled Mike Gatting in 1993 was “complete arse”.

But he also relives the hat-trick he took at the MCG in 1994 and his triumph in the 1999 World Cup.

“I thought it was fantastic, very, very impressive,” Warne said after watching the finished product for the first time today.

“I thought the acting was pretty good, too. I’m really, really happy with the way it’s come up.”

The exhibit will form a permanent part of the museum and Warne said he planned on one day bringing his children to see it.

If he has time.

Warne leaves tomorrow for a quick trip to England, where he will play in a poker tournament and promote his latest book, which features the list of the 100 best cricketers he played either with or against.

Shane Warne’s Century lists the who’s who of world cricket throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and left the author with the tough task of ranking the best players he saw.

The hardest decisions, he said, were choosing between Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara as No.1, and finding space for adversary Arjuna Ranatunga.

“I found it really hard because I don’t like him too much and I didn’t like the way he played or the spirit in which he played,” he said of the former Sri Lankan captain, listed at No.93.

Tendulkar’s standing in the game eventually edged him past Lara, according to Warne, given “the expectations that are on his shoulders from a billion fans in India, the way he conducts himself on and off the field, the way he accepts umpire’s decisions and his skills and class over a long period of time”.

Former Victorian teammates Darren Berry (No.80) and Jamie Siddons (No.100) are the only players on Warne’s list who did not play Test cricket.

Sydney FC coach John Kosmina has backed his depleted squad to stand up to A-League leaders Melbourne tonight despite having to field a back four with combined experience of just 26 games.

Sydney’s defensive stocks became critical after Tony Popovic (hamstring) and Iain Fyfe (suspension) were ruled out the Telstra Dome clash, forcing Kosmina to blood two A-League debutants in the biggest game of the season so far.

Youth player Antony Golec, 18, and short-term injury signing Beau Busch, 24, will be handed starts in front of an expected crowd of more than 30,000 in the first-versus-third clash.

The pair will mostly like join make-shift centre back Mitchell Prentice (18 appearances) and left back Shannon Cole (eight appearances) in a very inexperienced back four.

Kosmina admitted today he was throwing the youngsters in the deep end but predicted they would make the most of what he described as a big opportunity for them.

“I think we’ve got a few young players who might make a bit of a name for themselves,” Kosmina said.

“I think the players we’ve got coming in are up to the task, they’re hungry and they’re keen.

“Sometimes you need to be thrown in at the deep end and see if you can sink or swim and I think these guys will swim comfortably. ”

Busch was formerly on Newcastle’s books but failed to break into the first team.

He has been given a six-week contract with Sydney in place of injured veteran Simon Colosimo and has no doubt tonight’s will be the biggest match of his life.

“I think the biggest game I would have played in would have been probably (NSW State League) Manly against Sydney at Cromer Park, which was about 3,000 people,” Busch said.

Golec, meanwhile, received a double boost today with Sydney signing him up on a fulltime basis for two years from next season.

“I’ve been working for this for quite a long time now … I remember three or four years ago watching the A-League and now all of a sudden I’m here,” Golec said.

The inexperienced defenders will at least not have to deal with leading Victory strikers Archie Thompson and Ney Fabiano who both miss the match through suspension.

The Victory have vowed to put their disciplinary lapses behind them, and have urged fans to attend the clash against their arch-rival.

Melbourne midfielder Billy Celeski is looking forward to another taste of the edge Victory-Sydney clashes have, as tonight’s clash will be his first against Sydney in his hometown as a Melbourne player.

“It’s going to be a fantastic occasion for myself, being a Melbourne boy and growing up here,” Celeski said.

“I’m really looking forward to it.

“It’s a massive derby. The Melbourne-Sydney game is the pick of the round, I’d say.

“Playing in Perth (for the Glory) when I did, I’d always watch this game.

“It should be a fantastic crowd this week at Telstra Dome, so we’re really looking forward to it.”

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Underlining the lack of movement, Sydney could not trade forward Ryan O’Keefe despite his keenness from the start to move to a Victorian club while Carlton and Fremantle spent most of the week in a deadlock which required mediation over ruckman Robert Warnock.

Carlton eventually got Warnock, but the six trades was a record-low and left almost as many players at their original clubs despite them wanting to move on.

AFL Players Association (AFLPA) operations manager Matt Finnis said the limited action meant players should be given more power to seek moves to clubs to rejuvenate their careers.

“We need a system where players have opportunities to have greater control of their careers by not relying upon transactions between two clubs to move when they’re out of contract,” he said.

“If you can free that end of the market, then inevitably there will be more incentives for clubs to do trades where players are looking to move because the risk is that they might lose that player the next year or the year after and not get anything in return.”

The AFLPA has long been pushing for free agency, and will hold more talks with the AFL Commission before the end of the year.

It will use this week’s inactivity as a major platform to call for the system to be shaken up.

Finnis said the AFLPA was keen for free agency to be introduced responsibly, with possible safeguards to be implemented on such criteria as age, experience, salary, years in the AFL system or games played.

Another factor reducing the number of trades this year was the talent on offer in next month’s national draft, which has been said to be on par with the ability found in the 2001 draft, which included superstars Chris Judd and Luke Hodge.

That, and the fact that the draft will be the last uncompromised selection pool before draft concessions are granted to the Gold Coast and Western Sydney franchises meant clubs were conservative when it came to trading.

However that did not prevent players, clubs and player managers experiencing their share of frustration during the week, as many felt restricted by the current system.

“There is a real sense of frustration out there,” Finnis said.

“There was frustration because there were potentially a number of trades that might have got done except for the fact that a couple of trades that would allow them to occur weren’t completed until the last minute.

“And there was frustration for player representatives where there’d been long and protracted discussions about deals which could not be achieved.”

Among the other suggestions made this week to shake up the trade period was shortening it to two or three days, having separate exchanges for experienced and younger players and encouraging clubs to trade picks in future drafts.

AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson questioned how many players were left without being granted the trades they wanted.

He said it was wrong to assume there were players who wanted to move but who did not, despite O’Keefe, Essendon’s Andrew Lovett, West Coast’s Mark Seaby and North Melbourne’s Daniel Harris all indicating they wanted a change of environment.

Although the league has opposed free agency to this point, Anderson said the AFL would wait until more talks with the players’ union before giving his view.

“We will sit down at the end of the draft period with the AFLPA and assess whether it is needed,” he said.

Anderson said there were still avenues for players to seek new homes through the national draft where uncontracted players will be able to nominate for the first time and the pre-season draft.

But the man credited as the inventor of Twenty20 admits the international calendar might not be able to cope with star-studded competitions played across the world despite the keenness of administrators.

Stuart Robertson remains surprised at the speed of the Twenty20 boom after he devised the format in 2000 in his then-role as marketing manager at the England and Wales Cricket Board to address dwindling crowds at county matches.

The format has exploded internationally since, as England will next year host the second world championship, and the Indian Premier League (IPL) will aim to build on the success of this year’s lucrative tournament, which attracted most of the world’s best players.

England, Australia and South Africa are also planning to beef up their own domestic competitions by attracting foreign star power.

But Robertson is not sure whether the sport and its stars can be stretched so many ways given there is little room in a schedule already jammed with international commitments.

“That’s going to be a really tricky and interesting one going forward,” he said today.

“If the model is to replicate the IPL, the IPL is so powerful because it has all of the world’s stars playing in it, so I guess you’re going to come to a point where it gets saturated.

“There’s only enough time in the cricketing calendar for those international stars to be able to play around the world in international matches.

“I don’t know how much room there is for an IPL equivalent in every country. That, we would have to be very careful about.”

India will also host the inaugural Champions League competition this summer, featuring eight domestic Twenty20 teams representing five countries, in what some predict might become the start of a club-based global cricket structure.

Robertson believes Twenty20 has been a shot in the arm for cricket and gave the sport a vehicle to push into new frontiers.

But he urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to carefully monitor the amount of Twenty20 tournaments played, to prevent the risks of too much cricket and players getting burned out.

“I kind of wonder if the ICC should be playing a stronger role perhaps in managing it,” he said.

Robertson, now the commercial director at English county Hampshire, was the guest speaker at a Cricket Victoria lunch to commemorate the rise of the ultra-short game.

He remains a staunch supporter of Test cricket and 50-over matches and believed there was room in the sports market for all three formats, although it would be fans who determined which formats prospered or lagged in the future.

But he admitted the priorities of elite cricketers could change if Twenty20 continued to surge.

“If you ask a current player, they’ve been brought up since they were five, six, 11, 12 knowing Test cricket is the pinnacle of their sport,” Robertson said.

“It would be interesting to ask a young Indian player who’s now 16 or 17 who is breaking into a Twenty20 environment, and ask them in five years what the most important part of their sport is.

“It’s a generational thing, so it might change quite quickly.”