Rise of the Punter: Cricket Australia

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.