Where Now For Ricky Ponting?

Shaky series wins over India that summer, plus the unconvincing series win over the West Indies in the middle of last year had plastered the cracks of a team in decline. It only became obvious with the series defeats to India away and the home series defeat to an in-form South African side that a second re-building stage is needed. This is where Ricky Ponting as captain is distinctive of Ricky Ponting the batsman.

Unlike many recently-capped Australian players, Ponting was a genuine talent to begin with; he broke into the Baggy Green side at the age of 20, and has held the number three batting spot as his very own. Like his Tasmania counterpart David Boon, he was a fighter and loves a battle.

But he has an attacking instinct that combines well with his fluid technique (classy front foot cover  drives and back foot pull shots are his trademarks) that sets him apart from Boon, and as captain of the Australian side we also saw the best of Ricky Ponting as an accumulator of runs. This was backed with razor-sharp fielding and you have a feared one day batsman any team will want to have.

His form with the bat has been mixed; even though he had finally achieved a test hundred in India, he is susceptible to the bowling of Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan. At the decisive test defeat in Melbourne, he would have become the only test batsman to score test hundreds in each innings four times if he did not get out on 98.

In those innings displayed all that is best of Ricky Ponting as a batsman; overcoming a shaky start to implementing his strokeplay once he got his eye into the game to make a quick century to bring Australia into the game. It demonstrates Ponting’s character and desire to lead from the front.

Already at his mid 30s, Ricky Ponting has some way to go and has a lot to contribute to Australian Cricket. He is within striking distance of Sachin Tendulkar’s record for the most test match runs, and even Tendulkar is backing Ponting to beat his record. As a captain, he will continue on as the selectors are in no hurry of disposing of his captaincy and they see him continuing the mentoring role onto Michael Clarke as Ponting’s successor.

No doubt they have suffered some series defeats, as it is part of the process of re-building a new team. Will it be a great team? Too soon to ask, but it will definitely be a competitive team that will continue to ask questions of South Africa’s new-found dominance and India’s rise for conquest. Interesting times are ahead for the Baggy Green, with series matches against South Africa in March, the Ashes in the middle of the year and the summer series against an unpredictable Pakistan side.

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