Australia enters its two Test match series against New Zealand this week with a raft of injury concerns, and it must be tempting for the new selectors to try and keep some degree of stability in the side over the Australian summer.
With five players ruled out through injury from this Thursday’s Test match, suddenly former captain Ricky Ponting’s ongoing form issues seem the least of their concerns.
A week is a long time in cricket.
Before the start of the Johannesburg Test, Ponting’s head was on the chopping block, but his half century in that Test and the injuries to Australian players have meant that talk of Ponting’s career coming to a close has abated for the moment.
While Ponting may have a temporary stay of execution, the issue of his ongoing position in the side does not disappear by mere distraction alone.
For over a decade Ricky Ponting was the rock of the Australian middle order. The sight of Ponting striding to the crease at first drop lowered the mood of opposition fielding sides the world over, such was his ability to carve up bowling attacks and his appetite for big scores.
It was a fairly simple equation – Ponting equalled runs.
However Ponting is not the player he was at his peak. He has not scored a Test century for close to two years and next month he will turn 37. In a side which is in a state of flux both on and off the field, it is becoming more difficult to mount a strong case to keep Ponting in the Australian side.
When discussion turns to whether the former captain should remain in the team, it is curious to note that those in favour of keeping Ponting in the side offer reasons which have nothing to do with his batting output.
It is suggested that Ponting offers stability to a changing team, he can provide sound counsel to captain Michael Clarke, and is able to pass on his cricketing wisdom to the next generation of Australian players.
It is said that Ponting’s influence cannot be measured in runs alone, and this may be true, but it is troubling that the word ‘runs’ is no longer in the first several reasons offered for keeping him in the side.
Surely the scoring of runs, and loads of them, is the first and most important criteria when selecting a middle order batsman.
There is no doubt that Ponting does have a great deal of experience to offer the next generation of players, but this alone should not be enough for him to retain his position in the side.
If Ponting wants to help the next generation of Australian players, and convey to them what the fabled baggy green means to him, then he be better off taking up a coaching role rather than retaining the number four batting slot as Minister for Stability and Team Spirit.
Much is made of Sachin Tendulkar’s form in the past few years, and the late career resurgence of the Indian batsman is offered as a reason to retain Ponting in the Australian side, in the belief that Ponting too will rediscover his best cricket.
However, this suggestion overlooks the fact that while Tendulkar and Ponting were both highly effective batsmen at their peaks, they are not one and the same.
Ponting’s quest to continue his Test career should be judged on its own merit, without reference to Tendulkar’s rich vein of form in his late thirties.
Ponting shepherded the side through the difficult period that came with the retirement of stars Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist. Under new captain Michael Clarke the dynamics of the side have changed.
The current Test side is a collection of old-timers, up-and-comers and those clinging for dear life to their spot in the team.
In any event, there are enough wise heads in the current team to steer the Australian side through the next few years without Ponting. Captain Michael Clarke has an excellent understanding of the game, and is showing himself to be a very capable leader. The experienced Michael Hussey and Shane Watson also have much guidance to offer those new to the side.
The Second Test match against New Zealand in Ponting’s home state of Tasmania could provide a suitable send-off.
This will allow Michael Clarke and his team to start afresh for the four Test series against India starting on Boxing Day without Ponting’s position in the side continuing to provide distraction to a team yet to settle on its best eleven.
Ricky Ponting has been a fantastic servant of Australian cricket, and in his prime there was no better batsman in world cricket. All things must come to an end though, and the Bellerive Test match would provide a fitting end to a remarkable career.
Follow Michael on Twitter @MichaelFilosi
John
Guest
3.40pm on Tuesday 24/1/12 on the first day of the 4th test. Ponting is 91 not out and has passed 13000 runs in Test Cricket. Still want to drop him?
Lolly
Guest
It's not picking one man to blame for the team's woes. That scapegoating has already happened earlier in the year. Ricky Ponting at the time said that he understood the reasons for the selectors' actions. This one would be the dropping of an aging player who is not cutting it anymore. Not the first time it's happened and it won't be the last. You would hope that he'll understand the reasons for the selectors' actions if it happens to him. I'll do him the justice to believe that he won't have a whinge about it either if it does happen.
WoobliesFan
Guest
Here here.....its obvious theres better batsman in the wings......some ppl dont want to admit it. Ponting is done, he's deadwood.
zenboomerang
Guest
You may enjoy feeling comfortable with Ponting, but many fans do not... Take last summer - both Ponting & especially Clarke getting booed on & off the field in Australia... Get runs or get off the field... Ground attendances & TV ratings have slumped in the last 2 years & the fans pay the wages... Ponting peaked in the summer of 2006/2007 and has been steadily going down hill since... had a Test average over 60 & now down to 52 in 4 years... Its like watching a slow death...
Bayman
Guest
Quality, As a long time Ponting fan I have come to the realisation in the last couple of years that he is not proving to be value for money. Too few runs from our "best" player. Vas talks of the need for mentoring the younger players. These guys are men, in their twenties, who are considered good enough to be playing Test cricket. They would have been mentored along the way but now is the time to stand on their own two feet. To grow up. If they want mentoring, what the hell is Langer there for? As for the Ponting/Dravid comparison it simply does not hold water. The similarity ends with their records and their age - and their records are vastly different over the last few years. Dravid is still making runs - and he was clearly India's best batsman in England recently - because he does not, unlike Ponting, push hard at the ball early, play across the line too early, hook in the air too early, fall across his stumps too early. He gets in first, has a look, assesses the situation and with his soft hands just stays in. He's not called "The Wall" for nothing. Ponting still has all the shots - although his pull and hook shots aren't going in front of square too often these days - but he has yet to realise the time to play them. Ponting is an old warrior who wants to dominate bowlers. These days he lacks Dravid's patience so The Wall keeps making runs and Ponting keeps getting out. Ponting's troubles are as much in his head as his hands. The more the runs stay dried up the more pressure he feels to assert himself on the bowling - and the more mistakes he makes. And, seemingly, he is now incapable of learning from and correcting those mistakes. He knows what he's doing wrong - he just can't stop himself from doing it again. As such, his mentoring role is questionable. Professional cricketers are notoriously critical of players holding everyone up. Don't kid yourself there aren't batsmen out there looking at Ponting as a road block instead of a mentor.
Lolly
Guest
What are Hussey and Clarke? Are they morons who cannot convey anything they have learnt in test cricket to young players? Some the justifications for Punter remaining in the team verge on insulting to other squad members. He is batting at 4 - the only justification for him retaining his spot is him scoring runs and not just the odd 50 every fourth match either.
Lolly
Guest
An average of 31 hasn't proved anything much, though I do agree with you that he needs some time in the team.
jamesb
Guest
Well done Vas Bravo! The way i see it, batting depth is very thin on the ground ATM . South Australia doesn't have a batsmen averaging 40 plus. Queensland has 2 players averaging 40 plus, Jim Burns and Chris Lynn. Victoria has Chris Rogers and David Hussey. Both are old. Although Cam White has a healthy average, I'm not sure if he is test quality. Wade averages just under 40. Tasmania, maybe Ed Cowan (not including Ponting) WA has Marcus North the only player averaging over 40. Marsh averages under 40 in shield, but a good start in tests. NSW in this current shield game has Katich ave 50 plus, Jaques just under 50, Rohrer and Wicketkeeper Nevill 40 plus. Of course everyone has heard of Patterson. This doesn't include Maddison just under 40, Khawaja 40 plus, Huhges 40 plus, Warner 50 plus. Of course i excluded Clarke and Watson. The batting stength ATM comes from NSW. Other states, TIME TO LIFT YOUR GAME! PS; NSW bias my backside, CHECK THE STATS
jarrod
Guest
although i agree copeland is a quality bowler and will be around the traps this summer a green top gabba wicket is the ideal time to try our fast swing bowlers, copeland's suited to the slow wickets like the mcg and adelaide etc but at the gabba, it's really the ideal time for guys like cutting starc and pattinson, copeland might even get a run in hobart on a slower wicket, mind you cummins and harris could be back,but considering cutting has been smashing it at the gabba this year and starc just took 13 wickets in three innings there you get the feeling pace is the key, the fact hes got 1 wicket in 2and half shield games [at the time they selected the side anyway] and also missed out against south afrca A didn't help his cause. anyway at least we have good depth looks as if we'll need it this summer!
Vas Venkatramani
Guest
It's far more comforting to have the tried and tested experience of Ricky Ponting around a bunch of youths as opposed to a team of youths potentially failing and leaving us with nowhere to go afterwards. The arguments go both ways, and I definitely understand why people want to see Ponting go. I'm just not sure that his dropping makes the team better or achieves the objectives people are seeking. If the likes of Warner, Khawaja and Marsh had 1000+ run seasons in the Shield last season, then I would join in the call to drop Ponting. But this seems like picking one man to blame for an entire team's woes. If we want to regenerate, now is not the time when we have to confront India with a middle order that has nearly 500 caps to it. We need that extra ounce of experience, and Ponting provides that no one else can currently for us. All I know is that if the selectors do make the tough call (it would be a difficult decision) to drop Ponting, then there's no turning back.
Fisher Price
Guest
Hear hear. No room for the sentimentality which is the only reason Ponting hasn't been dropped.
Fisher Price
Guest
And where was the leadership during the past two Ashes series, Vas? Or at Newlands or against Pakistan at Headingley? Australia has won just 3 of its past 13 Tests to earn the fine achievement of being fourth in the world.
Fisher Price
Guest
I disagree. Opponents must relish facing Ponting now.
Fisher Price
Guest
The Ponting situation is a farce now and Copeland's non-selection is ridiculous.
zenboomerang
Guest
I would say last summer would have been a good time to sack Ponting after the Ashes... Seriously, his form is way worse than Norths was when he was dumped... & explain Katichs axing - in form, scoring runs, experienced State captain, with only him, Watson & Hussey doing their jobs last summer... Clarkes form has been poor for last 2 years & with Ponting one of the reasons why Australia have struggled to make runs in recent years... We've been carrying 2 batsmen & 2 bowlers for 2 years - the stats are there... Hughes has been patchy & has serious defensive flaws that have not even been vaguely worked on... Warner, Cowan, Finch, Lynn, Maddinson, Maxwell, Patterson, Christian, Henriques spring to mind as useful young replacements along with the experienced Bailey, Klinger, Voges & Hopes...
zenboomerang
Guest
@Vas Venkatramani... Your comments lack any confidence in the future growth for Australian cricket... You should read the Argus Report - its all about improving the team & getting back to no.1... Not about going backwards as we have been for years or staying in a rut... Ponting will never get back to his 2006/2007 form... The combined form of the Test batsmen is the reason we performed so poorly for the last 4 years at Test level... that and many average bowling performances... There are many good young batsmen waiting to get a chance to prove themselves at Test level - Warner, Cowan, Finch, Lynn, Maddinson, Maxwell, Patterson, Christian, Henriques, etc... Even Voges, Hopes & Klinger could put their hands up... It would be easy to select 3 Australian sides with the batsmen we have at the moment...
matt
Guest
Copeland, He gets wickets at the other end and with the NZ batting looking suspiciously like a 20/20 line up a specialist who keeps it tight might just help. The selected bowlers have all be known to leak runs at the wrong moment.(although we don't know what Lyon can do yet.)
Ben Carter
Roar Guru
Hi Mike - I've been pondering the same thing (a Hobart exit for Ponting). Not ideal perhaps (early season, two Tests in, against New Zealand with India still ahead), and not everyone gets to go out as they really want, but a home Test would seem the sensible-enough option to me in this case. And hopefully Slicky Ricky could also hit one last ton. Please.
Red Kev
Guest
All I've read this thread is excuses from you Vas. You (like the old selectors) are comforted by the thought of Ponting so you want to hang onto him, the problem is Ponting isn't the "steady hand" you praise him as, he's a palsied hand that has lost his touch. He is too intense now-a-days, gets too frustrated when he fails (broken television anyone) and try as hard as he might to contain and ignore it, he will resent the younger players succeeding and being on the rise as he falls and some of that will come out - it is simply psycology. http://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Players/PlayerBatGraph.asp?PlayerID=2041 That URL is all you need to know. Briefly in 2006, Ponting's average broke 60 (for the first time since his two half centuries on debut). In 2008 Ponting was still averaging 59. Since then his average has been on a steady and inexorable decline. As has been pointed out, his last century came over two years ago in dubious circumstances (dropped on nought by a player found guilty of match-fixing). Before the second innings in Jo'burg his last half-century was an entire year earlier making it the first innings to increase his test average instead of decrease it in 12 months. Khawaja, Marsh and Warner are not being picked on potential, they are being picked on their form and their record. All of them are demonstrably better batsmen than Ponting over the last 12-18 months. These batsmen don't need mentoring. They need seasoning in test cricket, they need teammates who are pulling their weight. Clarke doesn't need Ponting, he is a far better and more tactically astute captain, what he needs is space the mould the team in his own way - Ponting is one of the last vestiges of the "golden era" team and it's time for him to go (there's only room for one of Hussey and Ponting and Mr Cricket has massively out-performed Ricky in the last 12 months). injuries have given him the gift of ending his career in Hobart and he should take it.
Michael Filosi
Roar Guru
It is true that once Australia drops Ponting, they can't very well recall him. I'm curious to know at what point you would consider dropping Ponting if he continues to fail, given that there are options outside the team who are pressing their case? How far would you allow Ponting's form to taper off before you would consider dropping him?