Congrats RT Ponting

[bagapath]

Great player/servant to cricket and, if possible, still underrated/under-appreciated. I hope he hits his stride again and plays for many more years. If you listen to his interviews this recent trough seems to have made him reconsider his future. I hope he improves on his 2010 form and turns those 50s into 100s. I hope he stays around long enough to break all the records his talent deserves. Not so much for the records themselves, but in the hope that it adds to his legacy enough for people to consistently rate him where he should be rated.

well said. definitely a great servant to the game. and definitely under appreciated.

except i predict his legacy wont change much even if he breaks existing records held by sachin and becomes the highest run getter/ century maker. it will be a bit like courtney walsh never getting any extra credit for getting the most wickets in tests. sad, but ponting seems to be heading in that direction. i do hope he is upgraded and rated among the top 25 cricketers of all time, coz he is definitely one.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Really great player. Say what you want about him as a person/captain, but watching him play live was ****ing awesome. About 5 balls in he just pulled a 91mph ball from Onions miiles for 6 over the ropes. One of my very favourite players to watch.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Great player. His swivel pull, like Lara's late cut or Sachin's straight drive, is one for the ages.

Can't help but think he'd be even more well reagarded had he never captained his team tho. Tactically and temperamentally he's sometimes come up short.

 

[Burgey]

Marcuss... All style and class in a tribute thread.

 

[GIMH]

My mother always said if I ain't got anything nice to say I shouldn't say anything. But actually, I do.

Alas, on this situation I will say he's the best batsman I've ever seen live. Even though he never made three figures, his innings at Headingley last year was like nothing else I've ever witnessed. Champion batsman, and you know what? I might not like what he says, but I like that he says what he thinks in interviews.

Champion player, would bat #3 in the XI of my lifetime.

 

[Jarquis]

Marcuss... All style and class in a tribute thread.

I'll put it the diplomatic way

"He's been involved in some of my favourite moments since I've been following Test cricket "

It's not like I've said he's a bad player, or he's worse than Tendulkar, or that he scores his runs on home roads, or can't play spin.
I posted a few pictures of his career, I forgot that every innings he's ever played has been an unbeaten century and he's never been dismissed.

 

[Howe_zat]

My mother always said if I ain't got anything nice to say I shouldn't say anything. But actually, I do.

Alas, on this situation I will say he's the best batsman I've ever seen live. Even though he never made three figures, his innings at Headingley last year was like nothing else I've ever witnessed. Champion batsman, and you know what? I might not like what he says, but I like that he says what he thinks in interviews.

Champion player, would bat #3 in the XI of my lifetime.

No question. Beats Dravid & Sanga IMO and past that he's miles ahead. Best no.3 in world cricket since Sir Viv.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Alas, on this situation I will say he's the best batsman I've ever seen live. Even though he never made three figures, his innings at Headingley last year was like nothing else I've ever witnessed.

Yeah this.

 

[GIMH]

Forgot you were there that day. Always wondered why us getting bowled out for 102 wasn't the worst thing that day.

 

[PhoenixFire]

You looked pretty happy in the picture.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, I'd never felt better about myself

 

[Faisal1985]

I'll put it the diplomatic way

"He's been involved in some of my favourite moments since I've been following Test cricket "

It's not like I've said he's a bad player, or he's worse than Tendulkar, or that he scores his runs on home roads, or can't play spin.
I posted a few pictures of his career, I forgot that every innings he's ever played has been an unbeaten century and he's never been dismissed.

Please elaborate on that point.

 

[Jarquis]

Please elaborate on that point.

The point was that my original post was nothing controversial. Or shouldn't have been.

 

[zaremba]

Marcuss... All style and class in a tribute thread.

Are we having tribute threads in an Ashes sub-forum? About Ricky Ponting? Now there's optimism.

 

[bagapath]

Great player. His swivel pull, like Lara's late cut or Sachin's straight drive, is one for the ages.

Can't help but think he'd be even more well reagarded had he never captained his team tho. Tactically and temperamentally he's sometimes come up short.

totally agree. and it is cruel because he has had more success than almost all captains bar a few in the history of the game. the two ashes defeats and the two indian series losses (as skipper) are unnecessarily sullying his legacy as a batter.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Marcuss... All style and class in a tribute thread.

There's not enough bandwidth to attempt a similar stunt in an English cricketer's tribute thread though really.

As for Ponting, really hope he celebrates in style this match. A couple of unbeaten hundreds to lead us to victory would be nice. Maybe he could roll the arm over and take a couple of 5-fers to top it all off. As someone else said, he's the last remaining link to the great era of Aussie cricket really.

 

[robinjr]

Pretty much everything that i admire him has been mentioned here earlier so no point in repeating them allover but one thing that probably hasn't been mentioned here is his ability to put the past behind him.It could be as big as losing a high profile test series or as small as getting beaten out side the off,he'll quickly put it behind him and focus entirely on what infront of him.

It'll be a massive shame if we get in to a certain situation where he's forced to retire against his will.

 

[Burgey]

totally agree. and it is cruel because he has had more success than almost all captains bar a few in the history of the game. the two ashes defeats and the two indian series losses (as skipper) are unnecessarily sullying his legacy as a batter.

Tbf Steve Waugh lost in India with a far better side than the ones Ponting took there.

I think the Ashes defeats would rankle more, especially last year. Then again, he's also the first captain since the 20s to lead an Ashes white wash.

 

[vcs]

Tbf Steve Waugh lost in India with a far better side than the ones Ponting took there.

I think the Ashes defeats would rankle more, especially last year. Then again, he's also the first captain since the 20s to lead an Ashes white wash.

Yeah, Mark Taylor's side in '98 was better than Ponting's teams as well, I reckon. Should not be held against him.

 

[Smudge]

There's not enough bandwidth to attempt a similar stunt in an English cricketer's tribute thread though really.

The English would have to find a player from recent times of similar standing to Ponting first...