Struggling Ponting wants his mates, not a process or plan

Get rid of the very very average Brad Haddin, Sean Marsh is so far ahead of Brad Haddin as a batsman that they can't even see each other. As for keeping, pick the Tasmanian keeper, Payne.

Where does coach Tim Nielsen stand amidst the current demise of AUstralian cricket?. Has anyone seen a photo of him, a comment, anything..? The role of a coach at this level has always been debatable, but at least is predecessor John Buchanan had a presence, and a great analytical mind. While it may be unfair to compare, the team's tactics were never questioned much less controversy of over rates, etc. Buchanan also made timely comments which took attention away from the team and in particular the captain, in testing times. Ricky Ponting has been left 'on a rock' to answer everything from tactics to the latest episode of the 'Andrew Symonds diary'. Any wonder he has to be 'rested', I doubt that is a result of being overworked on the field. Australia don't seem to get anything right, from team selections, to the batting power play to runouts to overthrows. If a coach doesn't have a role to play on these matters, then surely the money could be put to better use.

I see the biggest problem for Ponting being the fact that he's never learnt how to lose, and more importantly hasn't yet developed the means by which to learn from his mistakes (not to mention lacking the grace and humility). He came into the Australian cricket team just as it was claiming the (then) unoffical #1 ranking in the world from the West Indies (1995). For almost his entire tenure in the team, Ponting has experienced record breaking winning streaks, margins etc. that have no doubt led him to believe that this is just normal, and almost his right as a cricketer to go on experiencing regardless. The one thing his predecessors, Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh, never took for granted was winning. Both had way too much experience as part of the struggling Australian sides of the mid to late 80s. If there was something that defined Steve Waugh's captaincy (not to mention his character) above all else, it was his unrelenting resilience, fired in no small part by his experiences as a young cricketer on the wrong end of scorecards against the West Indies, Pakistan and even England. This was something that, until 2005, Ponting had rarely if ever experienced. He was brought up in a team of champion players, and played against oppositions whose decline coincided with Australia's rise. Put Ponting into the cauldron against a Clive Lloyd led West Indies outfit circa 1980s and see how well he fares. Come to think of it, he may have already had a taste of that against India and South Africa of late. That's not to say either of those sides compare with the West Indies at the height of their powers, but both represent well captained and well drilled teams oozing with talent. To my mind the measure of Ponting the captain began post Warne/McGrath/Langer etc. True, you couldn't reasonably expect the team to continue winning unabated, but therein is one of the failings in Ponting'c psyche - he simply cannot come to terms with the concept of someone, individual or team, being better than him. If you want the surest sign of this, take a close look at Ponting whenever he's dismissed. Almost without exception he gets this quizzical look of disbelief on his face, half the time looking at the pitch, the other half looking at the umpire - as if to say I can't believe I got out - it must have been something the pitch did, or the umpire got it wrong! Surely, the mighty Ponting couldn't have been out thought by a bowler, or displayed some infallibility in his batting technique! Sadly, Ponting applies this same methodology of thought to his captaincy. Until such time as he finally wakes up to the fact that he's no longer captaining a team of invincibles, and is not invincible himself, Australia's team will continue to wallow in the mire. Oh, how I long for the days of Border being at the helm - the best Australian Captain of the modern era.

II think after all these comments we've called for everyone but Michael Clarke to get the sack. Someone even mentioned that Ponting could contiue as batsman if he wanted to. I'm sick of loosing but i'm also sick of hearing for drastic action. Lawson wrote about the need for a plan and he is dead right. Ponting is not going to be sacked today, tomorrow or any time this year so stop with this nonsense about Clarke replacing him adn let work out who deserves their place in a team that can start winning matches and be build towards the future. Haddin should be tried as opener, partnered by Simon Katich meaning he can attack the bowling in the first fiften overs while Katich plays the ancor role. Ponting depite his captaincy flaw should keep the C next to his name and come in at three, followed by Clarke and Mike Hussey. The next best Batsman in the country at the minute i believe is Phil Hughs, he wont forget how to bat just becasue he comes in at six sp pick him and give us some flexibility if Haddin isn't producing. James Hopes has improved his bowling and his Handy at seven untill or if Shane Watson and Symonds get their act togther. Mitch Johnson, Braken (who surley must get a test call up) and Shaun tait make up my pace trio with Bryce McGain getting the spinner spot quite simply becasue no one else deserves it. hauritz is way off the mark but Kreija may improve and challenge. Dave Warner has showed glimpses but must wait in the wings until a deserved chance arrives. Cameron White god bless his talents isn't good enough in either form of the game and should enjoy the twenty twenty. the test team should be pretty similar, swapping a tait who hasn't proven he is up to five days battles with peter Siddle. Mind you expect to see Siddle sent home from South Africa when is foot flares up. And lets not play Andrew Mcdonald, lets go for a batsman instead, Marcus North maybe to proved an off spin option Enough said

How did Tim Nielsen get the job as coach? Surely CA must have known the time was right for a return to a Bob SImpson/Steve Rixon style of getting the basics right with so many untested players entering the Test ranks. It's okay to have amateur psychologist John Buchanan looking after the Harlem Globetrotters as we were under Steve Waugh - but when you're the Mighty Ducks you need a bit of line and length, elbow up, head down. On the mental side of things the Australian team has collapsed since CA buckled into India's predictable puffing of the chest and bluff calling after the Sydney Test last year. That is much is evident from Symonds' behaviour. Throw in the IPL with its Lotto millionaires and it's all a bit reminiscent of Caligula and the fall of the Roman Empire - decadence + arrogance, pride before a fall etc. Ponting is not smart enough to be leader but the only player guaranteed a spot in both Tests and ODIs - that's why he's captain. Now, perhaps, Clarke is the right man. But CA will NEVER sack Ponting as captain and keep him playing as a batsman, it's not the Australian way. The Australian ODI team does not seem to have any plan - how can we suddenly be 5-120 from 30 overs each game? Hey, Tim - what is the plan? Surely we should have a pinch hitter with an anchor? Or has Warner been told to curb his aggression (reminds me of comments made to Bevan after his stunning first Shield season). D Hussey and Hopes can't hit the ball off the square - they must be wetting themselves out of fear of failure, it's the only explanation - yet they have been trumpeted as the new Simon O'Donnell. There is no place in the Test team for Cam White. And Hauritz, Krejza, Casson need to go away to a special spin camp for 10 weeks with Mallett, Jenner, Warne and Gleeson if he's still alive - to learn how to bowl. Heck, I never thought I'd say it but how good would it be to have Tim May in the side now eh? Unfortunately CA is now being run by marketing w*nkers and PR dorks, poor old James Sutherland is not strong enough for the job. More than ever we need strong leadership with vision, ideas and a solid grounding. That sounds like Mark Taylor as chairman, Clarke as captain, Dave Gilbert as CEO and Rixon/Bayliss or Dyson as a coaching team. Ignore the NSW bias, they're the best men for the job. I feel sorry for Hodge, too. My fully-fit ODI team: Katich, Haddin, Ponting, Clarke (c), Hodge, M Hussey, White, Bracken, Lee, Clark, Hauritz. My fully-fit Test team: Katich, Hughes, Ponting, Clarke (c), Hodge, M Hussey, Haddin, Johnson, Lee, Clark, Krejza. Reserve bat: Rogers. Reserve bowler: Noffke.

There was a time when in one team you had several players that could have captained ...warne, ghilchrist, ponting, hayden martyn or langer. In this team i cannot see anyone outside clarke captaining which in itself is a big concern. The team seems to lack a strong leadership group. Having players like hodge, katich, and hughes in the starting line up at the start of the summer might have bought better performances, and less pressure on the newcomers and timid bowling lineup we have. Why oh why are the 3 most in form batsmen not playing? hodge is amazing!!

Katich for skipper anyone? Until the next candidate puts their hand up at least...........

sunshine- you have to be joking.. Clarke as skipper is the biggest joke of suggestion I have ever heard. The bloke has about as much leadership presence as a choir boy and, going by his recent tattoo with his ladies initials being the focus, has the maturity to match.

bring back gilly!!!!!!!!!!

Ive held back on the Ponting talk of him losing the captaincy,i guess i felt i owed it to the guy for leading such a great team in the previous golden era,ive reserved my judgment and given him time to show his class and maybe get things back on track. Id have to say now i think his time as captain has come to an end.Australia need a new direction and also a new attitude.Michale Clarke to me is a classy guy,he always appears humble yet you know he has that competitive edge great Australian players have.He talks well and seems to take a loss on the chin,hes a guy i think who wont get this bitter chip on his shoulder when things go wrong which Ponting seems to have developed. Let Clarke build his own team with a strong minded coach in a Steve Rixon type mold,a coach whos great with young players.Tell Ponting hes welcome to play on as a batsman if he chooses.Never pick Andrew Symonds again,hes the type of guy that will only cause problems in a team finding a new attitude to winning which Clarke could provide,basically an enjoyment to cricket rather than this sour aggro attitude which seems to surface around Symonds and Ponting. Australia has the talent it just seems at the moment its being messed up by bad selections based on personality and the running of the team,in other words Pontings influence as captain.

Couldn't agree more with all the comments and Geoffs article (especially the bit about admitting you have a problem). The way the Australian team is performing at present really does make you wonder what happened to performances meaning something on the selection table. The so called "senior members" of the team should all be put on notice! Be consistant or you may be replaced. I would include the selectors in this as well. Maybe we need an Ian Chappell as chairman of selectors. Someone who has the courage to tell it like it is and not put up with the "I want my mates to play" attitude.

Ferguson and Voges into the Australian side for injured Marsh and rested Ponting. Cue frothing outrage on behalf of Hughes. Sheek, one thing that annoys me as regards the standard of Shield cricket is that it's the norm now for blokes like Hayden to retire from the national side, and simultaneously retire from all other cricket (IPL or lucrative county contracts excepted of course). No question of going back to state or even club cricket for a year or two to give blokes at the next level down the benefit of their experience or a yardstick to measure themselves against. While I'm a long way from a fan of Justin Langer as a commentator (still too close to his mates to be prepared to say anything but the uncritical for mine) he at least did keep playing at the next level down. I know there is the counter view that old hands hanging on for another season clog up the pathways for young blokes. Maybe so, but equally it has to be better for blokes coming through to play against better players and get a proper understanding of where they are.

Cricket might have to decide what kind of future it wants. Test cricket, first-class cricket, one day cricket & Twenty20 cricket seems one form of the game too many. Cricket is trying to be all things to all men (& women) which we know is impossible, not to mention impractical. To have each branch of those games, you also have to give players suficient opportunity & time to become proficient at each of those forms. Australian test cricket & first-class cricket (Sheffield Shield) are suffering because the top 15 players are almost never seen in the Sheffield Shield. Consequently, the up & coming players are denied the opportunity to be exposed to & learn from the old hands. As a result, the standard of the Sheffield Shield perhaps isn't as strong as it should be, & the test team suffers as a result. The one-dayers & T20 also take players out of the first-class setup. Cricket might also have to decide if making bucket loads of money is all that matters, even to the eventual detriment of test & first-class cricket. Maybe in 20 years time, a player's skill in Twenty20 will be the be all to end all.

I have said before several times, that it gets to me that the recently retired players toe the media line of everything is fine, don't criticise etc... I like reading Thommo's interview in the logal rag (Sunday Mail) where he gets stuck into the Aus cricketers, and has the guts and honesty to say some home truths. It isn't fine to lose 5 in a row, we can't "keep going as we are, I am sure it will turn around". "All they need is belief" What a load of codswallop. Something has to be done, or there goe's the ashes...although I would suggest it is too late to recitfy now.

Just a word on Cricket Australia's public utterances of suppotn for the team and the continued "nothing to worry about, were all focused on going forward" gibberish they've been waffling on about in the last few months. The time for CA to really support the players was last summer when the Indian intimidtion and threats were in full swing - lest we forget the chartered plane and the on/off bus trips! But they meekly went along with this disgraceful intimidation and distortion and hung Symonds out to dry. A big reason why we are floundering about this summer. While on this subject, what's the coach got to say about the latest horror show?

Henry, how can I show up to the Crest Oval in Bankstown after a hiatus of 2 months following christmas/marriage/honeymoon, bowl 7 overs in 40 degree heat and not bowl a wide or no ball, and I havent touched a six stitcher in months, but these blokes have more extras than a Cecil B Demille epic! Fiar dinkum, I nearly blew up when I heard Langer on ABC Radio saying the Aussies will analyse what went wrong and will point to extras being costly. Gee whiz, you should try and eliminate any extras in any form of cricket, whether its international or Bankstown Trotters versus Milperra Vikings!

Sounds like the Australian Cricket team is becoming like jobs for the mates. Deep down I felt that post Warne,McGrath, Gilchrist this could possibly happen - to be frank, we were embarassing in the South African ODIs, the Proteas rested some of their key players for the last game and still cleaned us up without any problems.

I'm a NZ fan. I thought our fielding was great, bowling ok and batting shocking. I was flicking back and forward to the tennis, you could watch a whole game with two or three deuces and switch back, NZ were still 4/62 or something. I think NZ will be fairly disappointed with their batting effort, and pleased with how they went in the field. The win is very welcome, but they'll feel they should have to bat better to avoid getting slaughtered in the remaining games.

Henry, you have some good points, but don't go far enough. You see, South Africa and New Zealand have beaten Australia because they have great team spirit, not like Australia. Everyone is bagging Ponting at not being a good tactician, but for goodness sake, look at the players they have given him. Only two or three are performing. He is frustrated by not receiving any support from the Coach (silent Tim), the Selectors (who make the excuse they are not on duty when not at the game) the Board and particularly the new Chairman (who is apparently invisible). Team spirit starts at the top, not at the bottom. If there is no cohesion at the top, then it filters right down to the players. Ponting is under extreme pressure to perform but needs help from senior players. The axing of Matthew Hayden, the vendetta against Andrew Symonds all tend to destroy any spirit the team had. Take the retirement of Shane Warne, Glen McGrath and Justin Langer and who do you have lefty to help Ponting. No one. Hayden and Symonds were responsible for bringing the younger players up to the required standard and showed them what team spirit was all about. Now Ponting has to do it all himself. No wonder we're in such a mess.

Can anyone tell me who the selectors are accountable to? I realise that the batsmen are rightly copping it, but consider this oint. We went into that game with three bowlers, 2 of which [Johnson and Tait] simply cannot be relied upon to bowl accurately. This means that we must bowl Hopes for 10 overs, like it or not. Another 10 have to be found from guys who can't bowl. To my mind, Dave Hussey just hasn't got it, with bat or with ball. Unlikely, but is it possible that the batsmen are feeling the pressure before they even start because they can see that their team has such limited bowling options?