Taking a Punt On Ponting

Let’s face it. In an ideal world Ricky Ponting would never have been captain of the Australian cricket team. While there’s no doubt Ponting is an exceptional talent, he was not first choice for the captaincy; that tag belonged to Shane Warne.

Indeed, had Warne not been blessed with the morals of a horny alley cat, he could well have been the best captain that Australia ever had. Quite apart from being a reasonably good spin bowler, he has one of the finest cricketing minds ever to grace the field. Any doubters only have to look at his performance dragging the modestly endowed Rajasthan Royals to the inaugural IPL Championship.

But, in a game increasingly concerned about image, Warne’s boudoir dalliances rendered him unsuitable for the job, and so we got Ricky. Not that Ponting is a saint—anyone with a memory will remember him being embroiled in off-field incidents involving alcohol and getting beaten up in bars, but next to Warne, Ponting comes off as a choirboy.

Ponting's record as captain is flattering, and he is second only to Steve Waugh in terms of success. Then again, he inherited one of the best sides to take the field since Don Bradman’s Invincibles. Better yet, and unusually for a captain, his personal performance as a batsman actually improved after taking on the captaincy, but his record as a batsman is not in question.

Even if he weren’t captain, Ponting would be first picked in any Australian side. He is arguably the best batsman in the world at the moment—if not the best then certainly top-three. He is creative, stylish, emphatic, and dominant. He will take bowlers apart and can single-handedly set up a game for victory—but the job of captain is way bigger than that.

The fragility in Ponting’s captaincy first came to light in the 2005 Ashes series with one of the worst pieces of judgement ever shown by an Aussie skipper. After losing Glenn McGrath to a freak injury in the warm-up, Ponting won the toss and decided to bowl first with an unbalanced bowling line-up coming to terms with the loss of the world’s best pace bowler. England scored 407 and gained the psychological upper hand.

And that, in a nutshell, is Ponting’s problem as skipper. There would not be a captain in world cricket who puts in more effort into planning for a game. Ponting is meticulous and has the day’s cricket mapped out in exquisite detail—which is fine until things don’t go to plan.

Ponting's great weakness is improvisation and a complete inability to figure things out when the plan goes down the gurgler. Whereas in the past, he has had the talent in the side to come up with a solution, now things are that much harder; and it shows. He would be out of his depth in a car park puddle.

Australia’s sudden fall from grace shouldn’t have caught anyone by surprise. The loss of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, and Justin Langer would have destroyed most sides and it’s perhaps a testament to the quality of the remaining players that their fall hasn’t been that much harder. But it has served to expose the inadequacy of Ponting’s captaincy.

Not only does he struggle when creativity is needed, Ponting’s man-management is questionable at best. He is unable to motivate struggling players, particularly bowlers, to help them through tough times.

Rather than work with the bowlers to rebuild their confidence, he refuses to use them. He did it most notably with Jason Gillespie in England during the 2005 Ashes series and more recently with Shaun Tait in the Perth Test against India. Despite what you might hear in official circles, Tait’s decision to walk away from the game can be traced back to that game.

Despite all of the questions surrounding his captaincy, Ponting should sleep well at night. Cricket Australia doesn’t sack its captains. Apart from Graham Yallop—who would never have ascended to the post except for WSC—the last time a captain was sacked was the dull, divisive and intransigent Bill Lawry.

Ponting may well get advised to quit, like Allan Border and Steve Waugh, but he certainly won’t be sacked.

Cricket Australia looks after its own—always has, always will. Ponting will be no exception, even if costs Australia the number one spot.