Ponting must be replaced as Australian captain

People like The Cougar with mindless patriotism, dragging in non sequiturs and assertions in the face of facts, will drive Oz cricket down. One has to defend his leadership using logical arguments and there are some. It is just that the negative outweighs the positives and the long term has to be factored. Nothing in life is black and white.

To Michael C: "Inconceivable!!!" Love that movie!

Ok folks its time for my two cents worth..... For a start, there seem to be some people who are jealous of the fact that visiting teams over the past few summers have improved their game by a country mile and that they can match it with Australia when they have their strongest team on the park.......Since the retirement of our great bowling stocks and to a similar extent our batting power (Haydos, Gilly etc..) we just don't have the strength to win those tight contests anymore.....The players coming up (a la the socceroos playing in the Aleague) aren't up to the required level and you can see it when you look down the batting order...you have Cameron White as a leg spin-batting allrounder not making runs and certainly not rolling the arm over....D.Hussey is struggling to pierce an in field although he had a raw decision the other day against the Kiwis....main strike bowlers aren't taking enough wickets although they're containing the batsmen.... On a positive note...Ponting is still making some runs and Aussies would be completely stuffed if he wasn't in the lineup...Clarke sorta keeps thing together a bit more but I have to say after going to that pathetic game on Sunday we are no longer a top 4 cricketing team....Sorry but we won't be winning a sausage in SA or England..Its gona be a painful phase coming up and if ya not convinced you better start holding your breath come the worldcup 2011.... Its time certainly Spiro to give someone else the captaincy....Maybe some like Clarke (as beaten about by many roar fans) and Hussey....Time to bring in more fresh cricketing but please don't bring in those ugly Katcihes and Hugheses...They gota have some flair like Hodge or something to offer the crowd considering how much of an arm-of-a-leg it costs me to go to the cricket..... We don't have a quality spinner going around atm....its gona take some years to get a good spiner out there.....It seems they've all gone surfing or tropo like Symonds!!! WHERE IS THE TALENT... As for the AB Medal Night...that was a bloody joke...they should all be ashamed of themselves for cheating on Sunday...Good thing they didn't win because I'd rather see someone with the 'sprit of the game' win..... Whinge end.......Interested to hear the response from those who can't see the slide just like the stockmarket

I agree and disagree with some of the reasons being mentioned for the poor results thus far on home soil.yes i think Ricky pontings captaincy is lacking some aggressiveness and colour but at the sametime he has only some young inexperienced players in which to lead,sure acptains job is to bring out the best in each player,but if those players haven't fully matured then surely this is a task that is impossible to perform.Ithink the management needs to be overhauled including replacing the selectors and coach,i strongly feel that a coach should come from a list of past players for the baggy green.Are we,for the first time seeing what Pontings captaincy is made of,who knows,i just hope he gets it right before the ashes.

Quite simply failed in many tactical areas, is breeding (continuing) a culture of mean spirited cliqueness, has proven can only win when he has the best players in the world at his disposal. And I bet a million dollars Cricket Australia keep him as captain for years to come! Cricket really is a stupid game!

I have to ask would this slump be happening if certain players hadn't retired? We have been on top of this game for so many years now but it was due to players like Langer, Warne, McGrath, Gilly and so on all of which have retired, because of this I would think it hard for any other captain out there. Ponting here is not to blame it is the selectors for not consitently sticking with a sqaud and chopping and changing every game. I agree that time wasting is pathetic and should be outlawed but replacing the captain isn't going to help the team. What we should do is stick with the next squad they choose and wait until the tour of South Africa. If by then the gameplay hasn't improved we should think of dropping him just give Punter a go.

Australian Cricket is in a spiral downfall, just like the Australian economy. By calling for the skipper to be axed is nothing short of immaturity. Too many ex-players are trying to make a name for themselves by giving their comments and calling for heads to roll. It proves to me that we have some people with tunnel vision who won't look at the big picture. For goodness sake, give Ponting a go and support him. Injecting some new captain into the game will have disastrous effects and can only lead to the demise of our reputation as a great cricketing nation. For goodness sake grow up and use some common sense or we'll end up like Zimbarwe and won't be allowed to play test cricket.

CW - the snappiness is unbecoming, agreed. The flipside of your statement is that perhaps we need to be careful about over rating the captaincy of a Steve Waugh for example.........after all, he got seriously burned enforcing the follow on in India (akin to the Sicilians comment "Never get involved in a land way in Asia" from 'The Princess Bride'). After which, his captaincy was often over cautious. Alan Border was captain grumpy, .... ....with the media, well, we know the media are quick to give a player a bake, and to ask dumb questions, however, my main annoyance with Punter was his carry on over Pratt the (sub) fielder. Reality is, having lost such key players in Gilly, Warne and McGrath effectively at the one time - - plus now Langer and Hayden - - he's lost all his 'x' factor, all his WMD's and all his experience. The capacity to build a new squad has been stuffed by injuries to key players as well as those on the verge of getting established. The last 2 years hasn't seen much go right at a time when Punter needs the things going right to be on the good side of the middle. Heck - Peter Siddle is a perfect example. He gets in, they persist with him, he comes good with a player of the match and an 8 wkt haul.........and is sidelined immediately. That along with spinners injuring themselves and thus exposing the biggest gaping chasm post the 'greats' - i.e. a decent attacking/defensive spin option. (Krezja and Hauritz are niether in particular and certainly NOT both, ..., in spades).

Look what happens when you put a Tasmanian midget in charge.

To Michael C: A good captain should be able to get the very best out of whoever he has at his disposal. He has a great past record while captaining some of the games all-time greats, now that those great players have retired he is struggling. Shows up his lack of crickets smarts if you ask me. His tendancy to get snappy with players and press alike when the chips are down only highlight charater flaws that are there for all to see.

I say keep Ponting on as captain. I really enjoyed New Zealands win, especially after how crap they were against the Windies. As a kiwi if they can take the Chappell-Hadlee trophy home that would be a great. Also, my South African wife would love to be able to say that her team are Number 1 in both tests and one-dayers. The Australian cricket team has been great at collecting records over the years, what is the most one-day losses in row? Do they have a chance?

Remember the old Steve Waugh and Tubby Taylor days, closing in on the batsmen, pressure fielding, good bowling choices and keeping them on when firing. That’s what Ricky has never had unfortunately. Helped for those guys having S.K.Warne and McGrath at the other end. Now, 2 years on, and people are whinging.........but......what's Ponting got to work with? Stu Clark is no McGrath. Hauritz has done his best and Krejza might be okay if defending 550! What would be interesting would be if McGain is picked for the RSA tour. How would Ponting support him? Punter may have some issues - although - there's often untold stories at the time that people criticize the hardest, however, the role of captain in the early transition years is not so great.

Warney should have been given the Test captaincy (when he was playing for OZ). - that was not fair. Gilly would have been his Vice. Ricky is an all time amazing batsmen, just has simple unimaginative mind for field placing and bowling. Never aggressive. Remember the old Steve Waugh and Tubby Taylor days, closing in on the batsmen, pressure fielding, good bowling choices and keeping them on when firing. That's what Ricky has never had unfortunately. Michael Clarke is hot and cold I say. Think of this, Ricky got the leadership when he was on fire, like Clarke now. It's better to have a cricket brain for the game, not just one aspect, and that's Hussey in todays team. See how the guy motivates the players in the field, he is electric, and can also lead by example. Most great Captains of all time (in my era - I am 32) have been all-rounders though, look at Waugh, Border, even Warne with Rajistan Royals. Whilst we don't have one that could lead us now, Huss understands the bowling, especially growing up with his brother David as an all-rounder. That's my two cents, Spiro.

more conspiracy to insert a NSW contracted player in as captain........whether Katich or M.Clarke.

With the 2 game rest enforced on Ponting by the selectors it will be a good opportunity to see what happens under Clarke. Can he get this group to perform anywhere near what they should be capable of ?. At present Ponting appears to be unsure and indesicive at times when making desicions. Compared to the South African captains who seemed to have the ability to get the players to execute a plan and if that failed resort to plan B. Inexperience may be a factor but JP Duminy kind of through that theory out the window this summer. I will always be a Ponting fan but considering the points made here, the time may be here for a change. I still believe the selectors and the coaching staff have more to answer for than Ponting. I for one would love to see Ian Chappell as head of selectors because of the no nonsense approach he would have and how Neilson got the coaching job ahead of Moody is still mind boggling considering the performances on the board.

I've always thought that owning/racing greyhounds should rule someone out of contention to captain any national team.

Spiro, you are absolutely right. Ponting's days as skipper are done and I have very little faith in Clarke; as my son says he's a "try-hard" when he stand-in skipper and seems to be trying to emulate Ponting. Let them both concentrate on scoring runs. Katich is an excellent choice and is proven in the role. He's a tough nut and is more imaginative than either Ponting or Clarke. I also agree about replacing the Chairman, selectors, coach, etc. etc, - problem is with whom?? Can we get Steve Waugh and MarkTaylor involved in some way?

On the money Spiro. I have been championing Katich for captain of the test side for a while. He is the man of steel that we need. I would think about batting him at 5 or 6 ala Border and Steve Waugh. He is the kind of guy that you want dow the order for when the going gets tough and you have a in-the-trenches battle on your hands. Now that Ponting has shown his inability to captain under pressure, the South Africans and the Poms will ramp up the pyschological pressure on him - he will be heavily targeted and his lack of captaincy will become a distraction. Quite frankly I don't believe that we have a snow flakes chance in hell of beating the Saffers or the Poms whilst he is captain.

No way, no way and no way. I struggle to agree with any of your arguments, Spiro, calling for Ponting's head. On the field, I believe he averages about 64 as captain in Test cricket and 56 without the duties, so I think that proves that he thrives on the extra responsibility (as well as the obvious point that he's got a phenomenal record over more than 100 Tests). He's captained the side to series whitewashes against South Afrrica (home and away), England and New Zealand, won a Test series against a very good Indian side etc. Ponting backed Andrew Symonds during the Monkey-gate affair. He supported the convictions of at least three team-mates that they heard Harbhajan Singh have a crack at Symonds. India played the victim card, told the cricket world how much they're worth to everyone, Tendulkar lied and the issue fizzled away like the only the Indian cricket authorities can do. Ponting's comments over the Haddin stumping-or-no-stumping seem fair. He shouldn't have to feel like he's a kindergarten teacher ruling over who threw the plastic spade in the sand-pit. The onus should be on Haddin - 32 years of age and with plenty of experience - to act with credibility and fairness. And Ponting condoned Brett Lee bowling beam balls to Brendon McCullum? Really? I still like Ricky Ponting's leadership. He's tough, direct and wears his heart of his sleeve. His reactions in the field at the WACA against the Kiwis in arguably another meaningless one-dayer shows he's still got the pride and drive to lead the Australians.

I agre Spiro, as I said before on here. The problem is that blokes like Ponting and Clarke have very limited experience in captaincy, having come into international cricket very early. I think Katich is a fine choice while a Clarke or whoever cuts their teeth in one dayers. Katich has proved himself a capable leader of Australias most successful state side for the last few years, I think he would be a fine choice and can pass on hsi experience to the younger brigade.