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Some have questioned Ricky Ponting’s decision to fly home for the birth of his second child, which will see him miss the second Test in Sri Lanka. Detractors claim he wouldn’t have done it if he was captain, so why do it as a player?
I think such critics have answered their own question. Ponting is no longer captain, which means he has far less responsibility, and his absence far less impact than it would as leader. As such, Ponting feels it acceptable to leave for an important family occasion, and I agree with him.
It would be interesting to find out how many of those critics have been faced with the decision to be absent from their child’s birth. Not many, would be my guess.
I can’t help but think that most of the comments about Ponting’s absence are simply a chance for his detractors to detract, rather than a genuine reaction to the situation.
Would anyone seriously begrudge a parent from witnessing the birth of their child?
Despite the opinions of the media and fans, Ricky Ponting is humble, respectful, well-mannered, and very generous with his time to youngsters.
However, there is no doubt that he suffers a serious case of white-line fever. In other words, when he steps on the cricket pitch, some of those aforementioned qualities make way for the passionate, determined, stubborn, intense, prickly and competitive side of the ex-skipper.
While these additional qualities have helped make Ponting a champion cricketer, in one of the sporting world’s great paradoxes, the exact same qualities work against him, making him confrontational and unlikeable.
That has led to some unsavoury incidents over the years, with Ponting passionately remonstrating with umpires and opponents. It has sometimes painted an ugly picture, and has led to Ponting not being the most popular cricketer, let alone captain, that Australia has produced.
Ponting may not have been the greatest captain Australia has had, and he may not be the most gentlemanly, but he was, and still is, a great batsmen.
As a specialist batsmen, I still think he has a lot to offer Australian cricket. There is absolutely no question that he is still one of the best six batsmen in Australia.
For all those people wanting to drop him, I ask who for?. This is not a golden era for Australian cricket where we have batsmen demanding to be picked. It would be irresponsible to discard a world-class batsman before his expiry date.
With Ponting no longer the captain and at the front of everything the Australian cricket team does, I believe the run-ins with officials and opponents will no longer occur, and that means we’ll be left to judge him on his batting alone.
Which may hopefully leave his detractors with nothing more to say. They could even try congratulating him on the birth of his child.