Exactly mate.
As Rowers Roebuck said in the paper today, the fact is:
(a) this is not a team in transition, rather it's basically the same team that beat the number one side in the world (South Africa) in their own backyard just over a year ago. Simple fact is, we have gone backwards dramatically since then
and
(b) this is not a young team. Are North, Katich, Hauritz, Haddin, Hussey, Johnson etc all in their early 20s? It would be different if Ponting were ushering through a bunch of greenhorns like Hughes, Usman, Smith, Starc, Paine (on a regular basis) and George (on a regular basis).
So, when you're ranked 5th in the world, when you're not a young team, when you're not a team in transition, when you've just lost the Ashes to England (absent a fit Flintoff and Pietersen for most of the series), when you've just drawn with Pakistan, and when you're setting **** fields....guess what?
You have to cop cricket-related criticism from guys like Warne on the chin. Ponting is in no position to be stifling dissent, to be dismissing criticism.
Ponting is a great player, from all reports a decent guy, and a very proud person, but I do think he needs to face up to just where Australia is right now.