Bleacher Report - Articles by Redbirds Cricket

Rise of the Punter: Cricket Australia

Redbirds Cricket — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:30:04 -0400

After the thrashing the Proteas offered to the Aussies on their home turf back in January, I had written an article making an assessment of Ricky Ponting’s future as the captain and the future of the Australian dominance in Test cricket.

With a comprehensive series in over South Africa in their backyard, Ponting and his men have not only held on to the number one spot in ICC Test rankings, but also have given a reason to their fans worldwide a reason to rejoice and sincerely look forward to the Ashes.

Going into the series as the underdogs who were licking their wounds, the Aussies sure did bring back memories of the 5-0 Ashes whitewash they handed to the English boys after losing the coveted urn just a year before that.

What makes this series even more special is the fact that Ponting did not have the services of the famous trio—Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist. To add to the team woes, Matthew Hayden announced his retirement after a dreadful series against the Proteas.

While South Africa went into the series pretty much unchanged after an inspiring series win down under, the Aussies had three new caps in their side going into the first Test. When Phil Hughes, the highly touted debutant and replacement for Matthew Hayden, fell in the first over of the series, things just appeared to pick up from where they had been left off down under.

However, this young looking Aussie side buckled down and produced a commendable first innings score, with significant contributions from the captain himself, the vice-captain, debutant Marcus North and a glorious near century from Mitchell Johnson.

Not only did Johnson strike with the bat, but he also struck major blows to the strong South African batting line-up by picking up a total eight wickets in both the innings, consequently earning him the man-of-the-match award.

In the absence of star players such as the pace battery Brett Lee, the ever reliable Stuart Clark, and the strength of the batting middle-order, Andrew Symonds, this new look Aussie side came together as a team and comprehensively beating the Proteas.

Having failed to make a strong impact in the first test, Simon Katich and his young opening partner dug in their heels to give Australia a flying start in the second Test. Both of them went on to make centuries and Mitchell Johnson continued to trouble the South African batting with his fierce and raw pace.

Not only did he continue to earn prized scalps, but he also managed to send Graeme Smith to x-ray room for the second time in three Tests, thereby sending him to warm the benches for the coming three weeks.

Even though the likes of Hussey, and Clarke seemed to have been struggling to find some form, Ponting should be feeling fairly confident with the composition of his new look side going in to the third Test and looking to the Ashes this summer.

With Phil Hughes, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North and Ben Hilfenhaus making an impression in their own ways, the Aussie selectors will have their task cut out when Lee, Clark, Symonds, and Jaques will become available for the Ashes.

Although Ponting says that this series victory is not the Aussies exacting revenge against the Proteas, he along with the Aussie fans worldwide will be proud of the way the team and their captain have bounced back after a rather forgetful summer.

Cricket Australia: Adios, Haydos!

Redbirds Cricket — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:14:28 -0500

The inevitable has finally happened. I will remember that moment for a long time to come or even perhaps for as long as I remember cricket. I was sitting in my class listening to the professor talk about risk management and here I was, browsing away on cricinfo.com.

It could not have come at a more ironic moment, the discussion was focused on managing risk and how to mitigate or avoid risk in an organization and it seemed like that is exactly what Matty Hayden was doing by calling it a day. He was avoiding the risk of being obliterated by the Australian selectors and having to fight for his spot.

After making his Test debut almost 15 years ago and tormenting the bowlers around the world with his belligerent batting, “Matt the Bat” hung his gloves on January 13.

Anyone who watched him walk off the ground at the SCG last week after being dismissed in the second innings, probably had inkling that his tenure was about come to an end. The crowd gave him a standing ovation; and his wife applauded him from the stands as if he was gladiator walking back from a tough bout.

The reality of what followed has not sunk in yet, and it probably won’t until a new opening pair walk out at the Wanderers next month. Averaging slightly more than 50 runs from his 103 Test matches, the last year of his Test career was anything but like his fluent self in the middle.

Over the past year, it was painful to see how he could not get the timber on the leather or how a few poor decisions ended his streak in the middle, but with every outing, the eventuality became more and more apparent. While Zaheer Khan tested Hayden’s abilities to the hilt during the Border-Gavaskar trophy, Ntini kept claiming him almost religiously during the home South Africa series.

For a batsman who once held the record for the most runs in a Test innings (380 against Zimbabwe in 2003), it is unfortunate that the last summer of his Test career will be remembered for his on-field challenges to breakthrough. A summer during which he averaged only 16.55 runs from five Tests, while fighting the growing criticism and arguments to be replaced by younger players.

Finally, the announcement came after he was dropped from the Australian T-20 and the one-day sides for the South Africa series.

For a batsman who was the highest run scorer a year ago in the world cup (659 runs) at an average of 73.22 and strike rate of over 100, why or how Hayden got sidelined from the shorter versions of the game will always remain a mystery to his fans worldwide.

Perhaps this is what Haydos needed in the near future—an opportunity in the shorter form of the game to ferociously wield his willow and build the much required confidence ahead of the away South Africa series and the Ashes.

Several bowlers will be heaving a sigh of relief at the thought of not having to face Hayden’s ruthless onslaught at any stage during an innings. The bowlers aren’t going to miss him or perhaps they will because as a formidable opponent, Matty compelled the bowlers to rethink their strategies.

I had a rare opportunity to meet Hayden in person as he was sitting on the sidelines nursing his Achilles heel during the first Test against West Indies at Sabina Park in May 2008. For an individual who had built a reputation of being combative on the field, he was anything but off the field. A gentle giant who was genuinely interested in having a conversation rather just signing off on an autograph, his demeanor was more calming than a warm spring breeze.

Cricket Australia and fans across the world are going to miss his nonchalant yet assertive style as he walked on to the field swinging his bat, chewing the gum and taking a hard look at the pitch with a signature stare before waging a war on the leather.

Hayden was one of the last two standing men (Ponting being the other) from the legendary Australian side that dominated world of cricket for nearly a decade; and he will be remembered for his cantankerous stroke-play and sheer dominance on the field and a cricketing great forever who redefined the art of batting.

Australia Cricket: Pointing Towards Punter's Future As a Captain

Redbirds Cricket — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:29:42 -0500

Ricky “Punter” Ponting ushered in a different mental attitude in the camp when he beat Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne to the pride of Australian cricket, the Test captaincy, after Steve Waugh announced his retirement from Test cricket in 2004.

Having established himself as the leader of the one-day side when he won the 2003 World Cup that included a blistering 140-run captain’s knock against India, the transition to the “real version” of the game must have appeared to be a natural and painless one. The reality of the after-events perhaps established it to Punter that the glory of wearing the Australian Test crown came with its set of thorns as well.

After a forgettable first year as a captain, during which Ponting averaged an uncharacteristic 37, he finished 2004 with a series whitewash against a struggling Pakistan. He finally seemed to have found his footing as a captain and scoring big at the same time while making a double century in the New Year’s test at the SCG.

The local media lauded that Ponting had finally arrived as a captain, and all focus shifted to the Ashes in England. After his impressive performance in the 02-03 Ashes, nothing less than a repeat of fireworks was expected from him, even more so as a captain.

Punter struggled on various fronts during the series, found himself whining about England’s use of substitute fieldsmen, and earned himself some unsavory remarks from Duncan Fletcher.

Despite his gutsy 156 at Old Trafford that helped Australia save the match, Ponting did not fare well with the bat and averaged less than 40 for the entire series. Losing a one-day game against Bangladesh in 2005 did not help Punter’s cause to silence his critics, to whom he was still the brash goatee-sporting batsman from Tasmania.

Like the phoenix that rose from the Ashes, losing the urn to England in 2005 perhaps triggered a similar phenomenon for Ponting and Australian cricket. Ponting led Australia on a record crusade and sheer world dominance, winning 20 of the 21 Tests they since played. During the process, the Australian team and Ponting overcame “the nightmare of the '05 Ashes” and ruthlessly massacred England in the '07 Ashes with a 5-0 whitewash.

Ponting continued his winning streak even in 2008 when he crossed the 10,000-run mark during the West Indies series, becoming the third Australian to achieve that feat after Border and Waugh. This period also included the retaining of the one day World Cup by Australia in 2007.

Ponting’s Test crusade hit a roadblock in the form of an energized Indian Test team and Punter himself struggled against his old nemesis, Harbhajan Singh, and a young speedster named Ishant Sharma, thereby prompting speculation about Ponting’s captaincy once again. However, he resiliently tried to singlehandedly avoid the home series defeat against South Africa in the 2008-2009 series without much avail.

Michael Clarke has already been given the responsibility in the shorter form of the game for a whole series ('08 series against West Indies), and has shown the promise of being an intelligent leader. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if Pup is put in that role permanently fairly soon in preparation for the 2011 World Cup.

There are several teams that have already started their campaign for the 2011 World cup by bringing in younger captains after the 2007 World cup—India, Pakistan and England (assuming that they sort out this Pietersen row).

From a test captaincy standpoint, the upcoming return series in South Africa and the Ashes will perhaps shed more light on Ponting’s future as the captain of the Australian Test side.

A pragmatic approach would recommend Clarke leading the one-day and T-20 sides leading up to the preparation for the 2011 World Cup and Ponting continuing in his role contingent upon the performance and results of the series in South Africa and the Ashes.

In 2006, umpire Lou Rowan branded Ponting “a smart arse and disaster as a leader,” but he will remain “the smart arse” whose name features alongside the Laras and the Tendulkars as one of the most fascinating batsmen of the modern era.

One would perhaps say that Ponting has had it easy with a set of world class WMGs— Warne, McGrath, and Gilchrist, playing under him, but there is no denying the fact that Ponting’s name appears in reckoning when a discussion/debate about “world’s best batsmen-captain of the modern era” is under way.

One could argue that a different leader could have been easily over shadowed by such star performers in his side and lost his own way. There is no doubt that Ponting’s consistent performances, leadership abilities, winning record along with a few off-field antics will have cricket historians usher his name as one of the world’s best for as long as cricket lives.