At present though, the latter option looks unlikely.
His team’s fortune has been steadily in decline, matched by his own batting. Were the Ashes being lost despite Ponting heroics, we would make allowance for the quality of his squad. That his twin failures at Adelaide were the key dismissals in that defeat is far more cause for concern.
Ponting has stated a desire to play on for another two years, to embark on another trip to England and make amends. It will require a Tendulkar-like late-innings revival for that to remain a possibility. He will last out this series, and perhaps even the World Cup. But if form and results don’t pick up, even this stodgy selection panel will have to signal the end of the road.
The question is, what would happen from there? Part of the reason there has been little pressure on Ponting – compared, for instance, to the unholy flame-grilling of Steve Waugh during the corresponding tour of 2002-03 – is that there is no successor beating down the door.
Michael Clarke has been the anointed one since soon after his debut, with no apparent qualification aside from being the youngster in a team of veterans. Yet Clarke leaves many people unconvinced.
Not that he’s not visible. Waiting for a bus on Eddy Street outside Sydney’s Central Station a few weeks ago, Michael Clarke was all around me. Apparently he’s taken over the side of every bus shelter in the metropolitan area.
There he was, on the cover of Sport & Style, calling back the 80s in a sports coat and t-shirt. There he was, in a whole series of Bonds ads, with a stick insect model draped over him, or showing off his tatts and his guns.
In a lot of ways it seemed to expose the root of public ambivalence towards Clarke. It may be old-fashioned and unenlightened, but to a lot of Australians a bloke appearing in fashion shoots could be seen to have tickets on himself. The Aston Martins and Lara Bingles of this world don’t help either.
Whether it’s fair or not, there is a perception that this aspect of Clarke’s life affects his life on the field. Cricket is the ultimate team game, and suggestions of self-interest are not received warmly. It is also a game of grit and tenacity, and the question is whether he has enough of either.
Clarke has been 13 innings without a hundred now, the longest stretch of his career aside from the lead-up to his being dropped in 2005. He has made some useful scores in that time, but not quite stamped his authority on games. To be a leader, a batsman must play like one.
Adelaide was the perfect microcosm of the Clarke career.
Here was an opportunity for him to tough out a game, bat a long innings, show leadership, save his team from defeat. Instead he played an eye-catching cameo before falling to a soft dismissal in the final over of the day. His team crumbled quickly.
Clarke is a good enough player to turn all this around, but whether he will is another question. Should his form continue to suffer along with Ponting’s, Australia will find itself in a tenuous position regarding leadership.
Mike Hussey is resurgent, but too advanced in years to be anything but a stop-gap. Simon Katich’s career sadly came to an end with that brave one-legged effort in Adelaide. Shane Watson is hardly the brains of the operation.
The bowlers rotate like rotisserie chooks. Steve Smith and Phil Hughes are as green as the WACA pitch.
S o why not get Cameron White into the team? Blooding him now would provide a reassuring option if and when Ponting finally gives the game away.
In terms of leadership, White is unequalled.
Why he’s not already the national Twenty20 and one-day captain beggars belief. He assumed the captaincy of Victoria at just 20 years of age, and has performed with distinction for seven years, widely praised as an imaginative, cheerful, determined skipper who leads from the front.
In that seven years his sides have reached five Shield finals, winning three; the last four consecutive domestic one-day finals; and all five domestic Twenty20 finals, winning four. It’s an astonishing record.
Yet every time his name comes up, someone declares that White’s batting isn’t up to Test standard. It’s like a John Howard election strategy: repeat the same thing over and over and people start to believe it.
That other mob will make interest rates go up. White doesn’t have the technique. Everyone accepts that it’s true. Then a global financial crisis hits and suddenly your online savings account is paying two percent.
White’s batting is about as destructive as the GFC when he turns it on, which is apparently what makes him unsuitable. Critics point to his average of 41.9 as being below par. It’s actually highly impressive for a guy who started his career purely as a leg spinner at the age of 17, batting at No. 9, and averaging less than 20 in his first three seasons.
As White moved up the order after his 2000 debut, so did his stats. In the 2006/07 Sheffield Shield, he averaged a tick under 40. The next season, just under 50. The next, nearly 58. And last season, 47. In between were prolific 50-plus seasons in country cricket.
Then there was his recent gritty century against the touring English side in the Australia A game in Hobart, when the more fancied challengers failed. There is more to his ability than as a limited-overs power hitter. 16 first-class hundreds don’t speak of a lower-order cudgelman having a lucky flail.
Criticising his Test batting record is also a popular tack, though senseless, given he’s never had the chance to fail.
In White’s four Tests in India in 2008, he was played as a spinner and forced to bat at No. 8. Genuine batsmen generally struggle that low down, distracted by the change in their role and unable to build an innings as they normally might.
Still, White’s seven innings ended up with two not outs, a 44, and a 46, mostly while batting without top-order support. There’s nothing to suggest that the backing of a top-order spot wouldn’t give a far greater yield.
In fact White’s case is reminiscent of Steve Waugh’s.
Waugh started out as a bits and pieces player: handy bowler, handy bat. He took four years to get his first Test hundred, and averaged 36 after 46 Test matches. Yet by hard work and sheer determination, Waugh rose to become the pre-eminent batsman of his day, and despite the handicap of his early career, ended with a Test average of over 51. For several years there, if there was a guy batting for your life, you wanted S.R. Waugh at the crease.
Then there was Andrew Symonds, a one-day smasher with greater potential. Again, the selectors gave him time and top-six backing. Though it tested the patience of some, the investment paid off. Symonds showed the world and himself that he had what it took, as a valuable Test batsman, a useful bowler, and an outstanding fieldsman.
White could be very much in the same mould. His attacking play makes him a potential game-breaker, of the sort Australia has lacked in recent years. His much-maligned bowling could still prove a handy option: 172 first-class wickets at 40 isn’t terrible, and the man dismissed Tendulkar twice in Tests.
And for what it’s worth, he’s also an outstanding slip fieldsman, something missing since Shane Warne and Mark Waugh rode off into the sunset. Ponting is very good, but his athleticism and ability to throw down stumps are wasted in that position.
In every facet of the game, White would bring something to the team, but leadership is the most important. Australia’s future would be looking far more stable if he had already notched a dozen Tests.
At present, Ponting’s legacy looks likely to be that of a great player and an average leader. Depending how the next five days go by, it may be time to see whether a great leader is what Australia needs.
sam
Guest
i agree totally , there is nothing wrong with white technique , any person with an idea about cricket can tell you that , steve smith and phil hughes on the other hand its amazing they were able to make it in first class cricket both have a series of glarringly obvious flaws. however the most telling sign to me of whites ability is his performance in the one day team in the last england series when promoted to three , from memory he averaged over 50 , there is no doubt in my mind he will captain test cricket in australia , he is a real leader and it will only take a couple of one day scores and the public opinion toward toward him as captain will change
Mr. Bingle
Guest
A well reasoned case you put forward there and I have to say that I am very much with your line of thinking.. I'd take it one step further though...I'd remove Clarke from the test team altogether because he is a cancer on this cricket team..He is shallow, phony, and self-interested... He is a thoroughly unlikeable little sod. It is no surprise to me to hear of these reports of how his teammates dislike him.. He is generally not liked by his teammates, he is certainly not liked by the cricket loving public, I cannot stand him personally, and he cannot make runs with the bat..Don't care about the 'form slump' excuses...He barely ever makes runs when the team needs it...and if he was a bowler, he would've been shown the door a long time ago..Double standards. It will be an utter disaster and disgrace if Clarke gets the captaincy, potentially ruining any chance this next crop of talent has of becoming no. 1 in Test Cricket. Sack Ponting... Remove Michael Clarke from the test squad. Make Cameron White captain, and Tim Paine his deputy... We need to plan for an Ashes victory in 2013...by building a team around quality people like White and Paine, who've illustrated that they are capable of measuring up to the task.........they are people who can 'gel' a team together...They are people the cricket public can 'relate' to... It needs to start as soon as the WC is finished. We should retain Hussey to open with Watson in the short term. But the likes of Khawaja, Ferguson, Shaun Marsh, Steve O'Keefe, Paine and White need to given 1st dibs on test representation. We have a number of talented quicks, and they too should be fast-tracked form warranting..If Lynn and Maddinson continue to put up big numbers, they also need to be given opportunities, despite their relative youth and inexperience. The time for making a batsmen score 10,000 first class runs before they get a look in is over..Otherwise, we end up with a team full of 35 year olds, and in the current disaster situation we're in. If the newly formed side takes a hit in the short term...so be it. The side we currently have has 'zero' prospects of defeating India next summer, let alone regaining the Ashes in 2012.. You simply cannot have a succesful side if most players do not respect the captain. And I doubt there are ANY players within the Australian cricket side who would 'respect' Clarke either as a captain or as a person. I don't care if he's our most gifted Test batsmen outside of Ponting. He only averages 20 batting at 4. His form in the past 12 months is horrible....but more than that, he is simply not a player you can build a side around, because he will NEVER garner the respect required, either within the side or through the australian public, to captain successfully... The selectors and cricket administrators in this country are 'monumentally' stupid for putting all their eggs in the Clarke basket. They have shown utterly horrendous judgement in assessing his suitability to the role...Hilditch and Sutherland need to be shown the door for starters. We cannot go anywhere as long as these incompetent, visionless twits and their mates within ACA run the game here... Rant over.
abby
Guest
Isn't the reason for White and Hodge being looked over time and again for Test selection Ricky Ponting's personal feelings about them? It has been mentioned more than once that Punter uses his influence over selectors to keep out those he doesn't get along with. Apparently that's why we rarely see White and Ponting on the same side. I have also heard that the team have very little respect for Michael Clarke.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
It'll be a happy day when Hilditch gets back to chasing ambulances and leaves the cricketers alone. That home loss may indeed be the only thing that gets through. We've had twenty-odd years of wins, so we can wear one reversal, I'm sure. Brave of you to put your hand up to wear it, though. Good bowling today, though it'll be interesting to see if they can back it up in the second dig. The batting is overdue for a clean-out though. Good that North is gone at last, but it's Ponting and Clarke who keep putting the pressure on the others with terrible shot selection. Hussey can't keep digging them out of holes forever...
MrKistic
Guest
Fair enough, I think I missed one of Ferguson's centuries when looking at his numbers this season. It looks a bit better that way and agreed, he's shown he can cut it in the ODIs, much like White. Hilditch does live in a bubble. The giant CA bubble which protects the lot of them from the real world. I've heard that the only thing that can pop it is an Ashes series loss at home. Lots of long term pain for those of us that work with a Pom (oh man), but long term it's the only thing that may save us so I'll happily suck it up for the greater good.
jameswm
Roar Guru
yes I was thinking a corn chip too! I can't work out that choice of Beer. SOK's problem is he couldn't be fitted into the NSW Shield side that played that week. He has the record, albeit in only 10 games, that makes you sit up and take notice. He's our first spinner in ages to come into 1st class cricket and do well immediately. Agree DHussey is unlucky - he can play all forms of the game. As for Ferguson's Shield form this season, he has scored: v WA - 129 v Tas - 12 and 36 v NSW - 14 and 131 I think Ferguson has done exceptionally well for Australia in the one-dayers. He has shown he is of int'l class, and that he has the head for it. A lot of the time he's been digging us out of a hole. I'd happily rank Khawaja 1 and Ferguson 2 in terms of the next-in-lines. I wouldn't have had Hughes close - but the selectors were under the mistaken impression that you need to select a specialist opener. They didn't when Watson, katick and Langer were picked to open. And has Hilditch really said he wants his contract extended? He must live in a bubble.
Tone
Guest
Gillard is an Adelaide girl..she only has an electoral seat down here in Victoria and dons a Western Bulldogs scalf at election time.. Please, dont claim her as one of our own..
MrKistic
Guest
That's alright Geoff, he does it himself these days. As he so eloquently pointed out just t'other day there is still no consistent message being sent out by the selectors, primarily with Johnson's exclusion and re-inclusion, but also with the bowlers being selected. I'll just quote him and the little paper: "Xavier Doherty got picked averaging around 48 in Sheffield Shield cricket. Michael Beer is averaging 40. My spin bowling is 41 and my spin bowling is horrible," said Hodge, who has taken 74 first-class wickets at an average of 41 with his occasional off-breaks. Perhaps if he hadn't retired already he could have pushed for test selection as an offie? It does come back to the point about White's bowling though, he barely rates himself and doesn't (to his own detriment) bowl himself enough at the moment, but he still has a better average than Doherty, Smith, Hauritz, Krezja & North and is the equal of Beer (with only 6 FC games). Yet these are the blokes being picked to do the job. I know Smith is ahead of White in the number 6 queue because of his wonderful stand up routines, but again if you picked White at 6, he would be a better option than North or Smith and would offer bowling that looks a better bet by numbers than your first picked spinners.
Lolly
Guest
And don't they show it? I like Smith and think he is worth persisting with but neither of them are anywhere near orthodox enough to be long-term successes without some serious help in the technique department if we are talking about them batting in the top 6.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Brendon, I've probably already worn out three keyboards arguing for Brad Hodge's inclusion: he should have been in all three Australian sides for the best part of the last ten years. But I can't spend every article talking about the same thing. Now let's see what I said about Symonds. That he became "a valuable Test batsman, a useful bowler, and an outstanding fieldsman." In his first 11 Tests he averaged under 20. In his last 15 he averaged over 60. It was an impressive transformation. As for bowling, averaging one wicket per match is enough to be described as "useful". And his fielding was top-drawer. His career was relatively short because he fell out with team management, but the ability was there. The point in this case is that Symonds was a player who was decreed not good enough for Tests - like White - and yet who did come good after being given enough time to develop. Not sure what your issue is with that.
Oracle
Guest
Beautifully put
Oracle
Guest
This is a great and timely article. Cameron White has one huge intangible that both Ponting and Clarke cannot be accused of, and that his that Cameron White can actually read the game. Something that you cannot put a stat on, and that is why he should be captain of the T20 and ODI sides, and he is certainly good enough to play Test cricket and should be fast tracked as our next Captain. Fair dinkum, he would play Marcus North on a brake, and how many chances did he get?
Brendon
Guest
Andrew Symonds a top test player? Wow. You are the Two and a Half Men of cricket "journalists". Symonds only played 26 tests. Scored two centuries. Both of which he was clearly out early on. Symonds wouldnt last with referrals. He took 24 wickets. Big deal. Symonds is the symbol of the arrogance and complacency of Ponting, CA and the selectors. A guy who was selected not on ability or performance, his Sheffield Shield average was below 40, his FC ended up at 42 compared to Brad Hodge's 48.81, but selected because he was mates with Ponting and the VB drinking AFL/NRL bogans loved him. Those 26 tests could have been used to develop a superior player.
Brett McKay
Expert
good one Rhys, I knew there was a recent one to fit my question....
Rhys
Guest
I know it's not an example of an Australian ascending to Test captaincy without much experience, but Graeme Smith is a prime example of recent memory. He was just 22 and had 8 Tests under his belt when he took charge of South Africa.
JohnB
Guest
Ian Craig would be my guess for Australia, if we discount the 19th century.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Sigh. Guess I'm spending another hour in Statsguru then. David Gregory was the first-ever Test captain, though the status of Test match was only designated some years later.
Brett McKay
Expert
yeah, I've just administered the forehead slap guys.... So..... Apart for the first ever Australian captain (and I'm embarrassed not to know who it was), I wonder what is the lowest number of Tests someone has played before taking the captaincy?? (you know in recent-ish/not ancient times)
MrKistic
Guest
A corn chip then? In that case it's only a little one but in fairness, I was just pointing out that commenters have used his Victorian-ness as a reason for not being selected, which is crazy. I totally agree that his Shield form this season hasn't been awesome, but nor has Ferguson's. I'm not sure why Ferguson is given so much attention to be honest but there it is. Perhaps because his one day form is strong. For mine, Khawaja is by far and away next in line. Like you say though, White shouldn't be that far away. As a long term player, you wouldn't do badly by selecting him at some stage soon. Poor Hussey, D. His cards are clearly already marked. T20? Tick. That's it. Of course Hodgey came out in his favour again t'other day which won't help his cause. I also mentioned in my other comment the oddness of not picking O'Keefe when he did so well in the Aus A game. They're currently obsessed with lefties, thus the Beer selection, so why not pick a good one? At least it means he won't get burned and may have time to get better established before being picked. And three capn's doesn't sound like so bad an idea at all.
Andy
Guest
I've been a bit staggered recently as to how the selectors have been so blase about the captaincy issue. Obviously they have appointed Clarke next in line but they have never seemed to give a hint as to what they planned should he not work out. As soon as his back became an issue you would think a touch of pragmatism would come into play and they would look around for a possible replacement. This is the reason we had the media nonsense recently linking Marcus North with the captaincy. Clearly this was media hyperbole but they really had been given no other likely candidate. For this reason alone you would think White would have at least been given a few outings. It smacks of the same issue that plagued Nathan Bracken, their incredible success at a limited overs level sees them typecast by the selectors as un-testworthy. I predict "excitement machine" Steve Smith will be next in line now. He's blond, young and full of energy. The selectors are in love.