“It’s not cricket” is used both disparagingly and as a reminder that values have changed.
A man is remembered by his deeds more than his words. And nowhere are deeds more scrutinized than on our playing fields.
We remember and rightly eulogise Frank Worrell and Richie Benaud. They gave Test cricket a vitality and relevance that was timely and endures to this day.
In an era where the stiff upper lip was still overly starched and Apartheid well entrenched, the embrace of Benaud and Worrell was before its time and two years before Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”.
Australia is playing Pakistan at Headingley and the fans in Australia are asking questions: Is Ponting the right captain? Is he worth his place in the side as a batsman? And some have unkindly labeled Clarke as “metro”.
These are dangerous perceptions and founded more on innuendo and not a little envy.
When did driving an Aston Martin affect a cover drive? And the Bingle is no one’s business except Clarke’s.
He displayed class by leaving the team and personally telling Lara it was over. He could have taken the easy way out and sent a text message. On top of that, he showed he can separate the personal from the professional and scored a ton in New Zealand.
For mine, he has enough steel.
I think Katich would make an excellent captain, but not because Clarke drives a fancy motor car. But this is all speculation because as long as Ponting is playing for Australia, there will not be another captain.
And Ponting will not be relinquishing his place at number 3. He would sooner give up playing cricket.
The number 3 and the hook shot are the two things that define the man. Greg Chappell, the only one that Ponting has difficulty in replacing as the best since Bradman, left on his terms and retired as captain and scored a ton.
I cannot see Ponting doing anything less.
I would like someone to show me a better captain than Ponting in the current scenario. The debate about him losing two Ashes series in England is passé. Three World Cups and two of them as Captain.
More Test wins than anyone, including Steve Waugh.
If Ricky Ponting was Indian, three drops of his blood would be worth a million dollars. This is what Tendulkar’s drops are worth. Publishers of the Tendulkar Opus have mixed three drops of Tendulkar’s blood with the paper for the tome and lined 10 limited edition copies with gold dust.
The cost of each copy $100,000!
More open to debate is the opening spot and the bowling stocks. For all his undoubted talent Johnson is testing my patience. He needs to start delivering consistently. Not every third match.
And we can no longer blame his mother!
Bollinger is whole-hearted, but currently is not Test standard. He has had a good run in the shorter form and performed well against the Windies in the Tests. But there is a sameness to his bowling.
Hilfenhaus continues to be solid and will improve so he has one spot sewn up.
Will Harris, Siddle and Lee press for inclusion in the Test side? They all still have a CA contract, so cannot be discounted. When the Test men are away in India, the Sheffield Shield will become a field of dreams for young bowlers like Pattinson, Hastings and Cockley.
There is also young Hazelwood and Mitchell Marsh. Yet unproven, but they can dream.
Does Haddin walk straight back in? Paine has kept well and shows promise as a batter. I think Haddin has the runs on the board. All Paine has to do now is score a ton in the second innings.
Watson at the top has one century in this position. He must show he can convert starts into big scores. I am not getting carried away by his bowling.
He is being picked as an opening batsman and the bowling is a bonus.
North is the man most vulnerable. He is playing for his spot in the second innings and cannot afford to fail. Khawaja and Hughes are breathing down his neck.
Cricketers coming together in the great teams are in a de-facto relationship. This relationship is one based on implicit trust. It works outside conventional rules and regulations. It is personal and constantly reaffirmed in principle and practice.
The not so great sides work more like a marriage. Their trust is explicit and codified by vows taken in reverential tones and often, sadly, broken with routine impunity.
Mike Coward states: “The role of Australian cricket captain, once considered the most prestigious and influential office in Australian sport, has already been diluted. It would be diminished, perhaps irrevocably, if three captains were to serve concurrently. A playing roster is unpalatable enough. But a captaincy roster!”
Ponting may well relinquish the ODI captaincy after the 2011 World Cup in India. If Cameron White is appointed T20 captain and Clarke the 50 over captain then Mike Coward’s prophecy may well come to pass.
Only a handful plays all three forms and it is not easy to have a common platform when these players get together for Test matches.
Ponting has young charges in Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Khawaja and Smith and is keen to be part of their development. Hussey, Clarke, Watson and Katich are his seasoned lieutanants.He has called for the seniors to step up.
This is the team Ricky currently has and I doubt he will be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
David,very astute analysis. Hauritz is the no 1 spinner and Smith will have to learn more of his trade. Hughes and Khawaja must be in the squad. You never know who is going to be injured.McKay will struggle against good sides but yes we must give him an opportunity. For mine Siddle and Harris,if fit,would be a potent attack.
David
Guest
Ponting is fine for the moment and it looks as though Clarke has the captaincy sometime next year when Punter goes. Clarke has the potential to be a decent captain but he also has the potential to fail a he doesn't strike me a solid and dependable character like Ponting was and Katich and Hussey are now (too bad their too old). In regards to the current side i think North has had his chance and should go, Watson should drop down the order to number 6, Hughes and Khawaja should get chances to determine who is the best long term opener, it's likely whoever doesn't get the full time role will have a chance once Katich retires anyway so it won't hurt giving both a go. Haddin for me is a step above Paine still and is a better all round batter in my book so i'd keep Paine on the fringes and hope he learns from his recent time in the side. Smith is a hard one to slot in, i'd give him a run in India over Hauritz (or in North's spot in watto keeps opening there) and see how he goes, if he can start piling on runs he may challenge Hauritz but for now Hauritz is a more solid bowler so Smith will be stuck waiting for chances. With our bowling attack i'd like to see Siddle come back in and I quite like Pattinson and wouldn't mind seeing him on the fringes (too bad he doesn't play for NSW....), Mckay is another who could get a bit more of a run too.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Bayman,everything you say is eminently reasonable. The selectors have been reacting rather than being proactive. Their treatment of players like Rogers and Hodge has been unreasonable. The selectors and coaches must take responsibility for Johnson. You are right he does need time away. Ponting said yesterday that Johnson is doing a lot of work with Troy Cooley. If that is the case he should not come back till he has got it right. Khawaja and Hughes must be given opportunities and as soon as the tour to India. North is struggling and has had enough chances. Katich though is one of our most consistent and must stay. I am not convinced with Watson as an opener. Ponting's record,like Waugh's before him is affording him the "leeway" denied to other mortals and while I acknowledge your point I would give him another season.
Bayman
Guest
Vinay, One thing that has bemused me in recent years, certainly since "professional" cricket arrived, is the notion that captains, and players, get to decide when to go. I thought that was why we had selection panels. As for captaincy replacements, in the current scenario we seem to be left with Michael Clarke. Despite their great performances over the years, Australia's reliance on the middle-aged (in cricketing terms) Ponting, Katich and Hussey is a concern. Clarke and Watson are nearing 30, North 31 and that's the top order covered. While I fully understand the notion of "not doing badly enough to be dropped" I prefer the concept of "doing so well that you must be picked". In recent times, perhaps the only players who have forced their way into the Australian team have been Clarke and Hughes. Johnson and Smith were picked more on potential than results while Haddin simply got the job because he could bat. It seems to me that the selectors, despite having more of them than ever before, are simply not doing their job. If the trick is to stop selecting players just before they go completely downhill then I would suggest that (God, strike me down if you must!) Ponting is about ready to go now. He surely can no longer be picked based on what he did when McGrath and Warne were in the side. That's now years ago. He's 35, his average and his recent series aggregates are plummeting and if he'd been given out first ball as he should have been, and caught first ball in Hobart as he should have been his recent record would now be resembling that of Marcus North - who surely must be dropped if the selectors are serious and paying attention. While they're at it, I suggest giving Johnson some time away as well because he's now an embarrassment - and, no, I don't care that he's taken 150 Test wickets. At some point someone must take responsibility and tell him to go away and get it right. Players, and captains, should never be allowed to nominate when they're done unless they err on the side of going early - and Ponting doesn't seem to be a "go early" kind of guy.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Final word on this chapter of Ponting's captaincy. He fought hard. He is a proud man and it would have been difficult for him to lose the one day series the two Twenty20's and draw the series. He is not used to losing but was gracious in his post match speech. He praised the opposition and admitted his team was not good enough to win after scoring 88. We can all be proud of our skipper. And finally a bouquet for the ECB for helping stage Pakistan's "home" series at what must have been a loss for them financially.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Lolly,the beauty about cricket is that it juxtaposes human fraility with human achievement. The struggles,the triumphs the failures and heartbreaks. The poignancy of Hussey claiming the catch. The insufficient evidence. Hussey would have felt his credibility was being questioned. Rudi Koertzen was under pressure. In the end the right decision. And only in cricket..an over later same batter same fielder and Hussey is vindicated..or is just fate cocking a snook. Thank you for your compliments.
Lolly
Guest
Oh I agree that Aamer is a wonderful young talent. I don't mind the Pakistan team winning this match at all as there is no way their bowling unit deserves another loss after the SCG. Their catching has held up under the strain which has made a real difference. But that ball was really wide (Mitchell Johnson wide if you get my drift) and in the situation of having to start again AND just having nicked a ball through slips, Punter had no business even going at that ball with his feet in concrete. He had done so much disciplined hard work the night before and just seemed to throw it all away at the beginning of Day three. I'm finding his frailties more and more interesting. This is what I mean about him maybe just being tired of international cricket. He's had such a long career. And excellent article. You are a very good writer.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Whiteline,nothing would surprise me. But Ponting will go to India in October and I will be writing about this. This may be the journey that makes him decide. Watch this space.
Whiteline
Guest
I wouldn't surprised if Ponting retires after the coming summer and doesn't even go to the World cup. Nothing to do with form, whether they win or lose the Ashes or anything like that. I just have a gut feel that he will and possibly is now thinking 'I've just about had enough'.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Lolly,my first reaction was "Oh No!" But on reflection it was the classic left armer's dismissal. Aamer pitched it fractionally fuller and wider and the initial line fooled Ponting. It even happens to batsmen who have scored 12000 runs. It was clever bowling from an eighteen year old and made the difference between the eventual lead of 180 and a possible lead of 250. I interviewed Wasim Akram last November and he said then that Aamer was more talented than he was at eighteen. Pakistan have a gem in this young man and with Asif in concert have as good a new ball pair as any. You saw how inadequate the second stringers were..both Gul and Kaneria were innocuous compare to the the two A's.If they can bring Shoaib Akhtar instead of Gul England will worry. Punter was undone by the persistent brilliance of Aamer. In fact if Butt had set an extra slip first thing in the morning Ponting would have perished earlier. So Lolly, let us salute the bowling of Asif and Aamer. For me the most refreshing thing for the future of cricket has been the performance of young men like Aamer,Azhar Ali and Smith.
Lolly
Guest
But what about that shot Punter played to get out this morning? I don't even know how to start on that one. He does not look like the man in charge with a real determination to see his team through. Is he perhaps just tired? Having to set fields for Johnson and Bolly regularly would do my head in on top of trying to be the hero of the team.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
Sheek,you are right it will come to pass. I am still hopeful that all three forms can survive and also enhance the spectacle.I know ODI's energised Tests and now I see T20's can do the same for ODI's. Young Steve Smith's innings tonight was a breath of fresh air. It is great to see a young man take Test cricket by the scruff of its sometimes staid neck and shake it up.
sheek
Guest
Vinay, While I sympathise with Mike Coward's sentiments, having 3 test captains will one day be 'de riquer'. The test captain will still (hopefully) hold centre stage among the 3 kings. It wasn't that long ago many of us took extreme umbrage at players being rested for particular tests - "But we've always picked the best team available", screamed the nay-sayers. Now we accept it as prudent practice. So 3 captains will also come to pass. I reckon Clarke will take over the test captaincy from Ponting, & continue a very proud tradition of being a fine Australian skipper. Katich has outstanding credentials, but being almost the same age as Ponting, he will be passed over.
sheek
Guest
Fisher Price, Katich - born 1975 - too old. Katich - born 1975 - too old. Katich - born 1975 - too old. Unless Katich, less than a year younger than Ponting, intends to play on until he is 50, he will be passed over for the test captaincy, irrespective of his very impressive credentials.
Fisher Price
Guest
Katich. Katich. Katich.
betty b
Guest
thanks Vinnay. Yes - I also agree that captains need to speak up, though Smith was a bit misguided for a while (or at least his predictions v Aust were always a bit embarassing). But generally I think world cricket can be proud of its captains (more so than perhaps any other sport). I'm not sure about the Test championship. It'm sure it's a good thing, but I read that it was to be based on rankings (ie. top 4 teams play off in a straight finals type format, meaning three games in total). I don't think that will prove much, at least not much more than the present ranking system. What about a mixed format - world cup type ODI or T20 then the top 4 teams play off in tests?
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
betty,I strongly believe captains need to assert their opinions more than they have done to date. They all get handsomely rewarded and have a responsibility to leave the game better than they found it. Test cricket has to be prioritised in our collective makeups. Much needs to be done in speeding up the over rates. Pitches need smartening and the Test Championship must become a reality.
betty b
Guest
nice reply Vinay - and thank you. I must agree with your assessment. I think Smith has grown as a captain, he's not as boisterous as he was, and it will be interesting to watch India in coming seasons.
Vinay Verma
Roar Guru
betty,this is easy if we limit the comparison to his contemporaries and take only the top 5 countries. The nearest challenger statistically is Graeme Smith. Both Ponting and Smith have captained 67 times. Smith has won 32 and Ponting 44. Incidentally no other captain has won as many as Ponting in the history of the game. Dhoni has never lost a series. He has played 7 series. Only 13 tests but he is a good captain.Strauss and Vettori do not rate at this stage. Strauss has 7 wins from 17 played and Vettori 4 from 13. Looking beyond the statistics I tend to look at how a captain advances the game,how attacking he is and how he conducts himself off the field. And finally what they do for Test Cricket. On this score I immediately discount people like Gayle and Afridi. Smith is a conservative captain but generous and values Test cricket. Ponting has forsaken the riches of the IPL and has always believed in Test Cricket. Sangakkara and Vettori are fine role models and good for the game. If I had to pick it would be between Ponting and Sangakkara. India will soon have to cope with life without their fab four and Smith will miss Kallis. Murali will leave a big hole in Sri lanka so it will be interesting to see how these captains cope. Ricky has coped with losing Warne,McGrath,Gilchrist,Hayden and Gillespie. Not to mention Martyn.
betty b
Guest
Vinay, we may criticise Ponting on occasions but how do you rank him against other test captains in the game? He's had to labour with some average bowlers of late (esp in England) but had many years with some of the best ever bowlers in his team. There seems to be a lot of instability in captaincy in other test teams (Pakistan, England, India). I guess both Smith (SA) and Vettori must rank highly, but I'd like to think Ricky's record puts him ahead of them.