Australian captain Ricky Ponting tonight fired back at the swarm of critics who have pilloried him for declining to use his best bowlers to avoid a Test match ban during the final Test of the 2-0 series loss to India.
Ponting expressed disappointment at the harsh words of former captains Ian Chappell and Allan Border after both criticised him strongly for a decision which may have cost Australia the Test and in turn the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Border is also a Cricket Australia board member, and Ponting suggested that he would have expected more support from those above him.
CA chief executive James Sutherland has said he will be seeking an explanation from Ponting for the events of the fourth day, which saw the Australians allow India to squeeze clear of troubled waters at 6-166, a lead of only 252, by seeming more concerned with their shoddy over-rate than with wickets.
“To tell you the truth I’m a little bit disappointed with some of the criticism, particularly from former Australian captains and CA board members,” Ponting said.
“I had Jason Krejza bowling at one end who ended up taking 12 wickets in the game, Cameron White who’d been the No.1 picked spinner in the first three Test matches operating from the other end for a couple of overs, that didn’t work out the way I’d have liked.
“Michael Clarke was the next choice, he’d been off the field ill and couldn’t bowl until 3.10pm, and being in the situation that we were nine overs down, myself as captain of the Australian cricket team I feel I have a lot of responsibility to play the game in the right spirit, I have an obligation to try to bowl 90 overs in the day’s play.
“The way we were heading if the quicks had continued then we would’ve been maybe 12 overs down by the time the day ended, so they’re some of the reasons why it was that way.
“At no stage did I ever feel it was totally negative at the other end, with Cameron White I actually felt he’d be as good a chance as anybody of getting Harbhajan out.
“As soon as Michael Clarke was fit he came back on and it’s only a few months ago he won us a Test in Sydney with his bowling.”
The widespread inference that Ponting appeared to put himself above the team caused the captain particular pain.
“The thing I’m most disappointed about is there seems to be this inference out there that I’ve put myself totally ahead of the team,” he said.
“Anybody that knows me or knows the way I play or operate around the Australian team or any team would hopefully not say that’s the case.
“I’d like to think as far as team players go that there haven’t been many more that have ever played for Australia that would do more than I have for the team.”
While Australia’s longest serving skipper Border fumed in the commentary box, one of its most imaginative in Chappell said Ponting had no excuse for making the same miscalculations with over rates time after time.
“The first question you’ve got to ask is: How the hell can he keep making the same mistake? He has been in that position previously in this series; he has been fined and he has been warned about the slow overs but here we are again,” Chappell told Cricinfo.
“The worst part about this is that he is the main offender.
“He’s the guy who takes up a lot of time talking to his bowlers, talking to his fielders about tactics, changes his field placings and all of that just takes too long. It is not necessary and he’s got to rectify that problem.”
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