Ricky Ponting steps down as Captain (Updated)

[smash84]

good call Ricky..........should end his limited overs career as well and take a long hard look at his test career for the future. When was the last time an Australian captain gave up the captaincy (or was removed) and still played in the side? Bill Lawry?

 

[Spark]

As previously stated - Ghappell.

Or Kim Hughes.

 

[howardj]

Kimberley Hughes lasted just two Tests.

I think Ponting will be massively tested by Steyn, given the problems he's had with genuine quicks since Roach roughed him up 18 months ago.

 

[Ausage]

Steyn is testing for anyone tbf.

 

[Woodster]

So the end of Ponting the captain, suppose the timing is understandable. It gives the incoming skipper plenty of time to prepare to win back the Ashes (not that this series is the be all and end all by any stretch) and to get a side together designed to win the next World Cup.

I have huge admiration for Ponting, first and foremost as a batsman and as he continues to play that won't change, and also for the way he has led his side. I've not always enjoyed his little spats with umpires and incidents such as shouting at Duncan Fletcher on his way up the steps, but he is a winner, and like most winners, cannot stand losing. Has brought a steel and a resolve to the Aussie side.

Any captain would struggle to maintain the side's momentum after losing so many top top class players as they have in recent years, and since that period his captaincy and tactical nous has come under increasing scrutiny, and he has struggled to make a positive impression with his decisions.

I'm glad his continuing on playing, like previous posts on here, cannot understand him carrying on in ODI's, but they don't have to pick him. I genuinely hope he has plenty of runs left in him yet, just not against us.

 

[Midwinter]

IChappell played a few tests under his brother after WSC ended.
Batted at 6

 

[robelinda]

Ian Chappell gave up the captaincy in 1975, played for a few years under Greg until WSC. Or was it just that one season, didnt Ian retire from tests in 1976? and then came back for WSC and a few more tests in 1980?

 

[pup11]

So, there's no link between averaging sub 40 in the last two years and his age?

Age must also be a factor in the overall make up of the team. Good selectors plan ahead.

What's the point in having all these old guys in the team (Kat, Haddin, Ponting, Hussey) when you just get walloped anyway (like we did in the Ashes losing three times by an innings for the first time in our history)

Best to have younger players with an upside.

There's very little upside to Ponting. That said, I don't mind him staying on for the heavy duty tours of SL and SA, and next summer against India.

Mate... You keep going on with this whole dump the oldies and bring in the rooks thing, but are there really many young domestic batsmen around who really have the performances to deserve a test cap.?

During the Ashes this summer Hussey and North were barely holding onto their spots but they were hardly being pushed by any young batsmen and when Smith eventually replaced North he performed no better than the man he was replacing.

I think Ricky made a good point during the worldcup that in his time a batsman with a domestic average less than 60 won't usually be considered for higher honours, and frankly speaking those are the sort of standards the selectors and the upcoming domestic batsmen need to have in their minds.

Ponting as I have said previously has been weighed down by injuries and burden of captaincy, but I have little doubt that he is going comeback really strongly now and writing him off just yet isn't fair.

 

[morgieb]

It feels like the end of a era. Pup is good tactically, but will he get the same respect that Punter got?

 

[pup11]

Kimberley Hughes lasted just two Tests.

I think Ponting will be massively tested by Steyn, given the problems he's had with genuine quicks since Roach roughed him up 18 months ago.

He first has gotta deal with the Lankans before that, facing Malinga, Mendis, Herath in their home conditions isn't going to be easy.
As for Steyn and Morkel challenge, that is something that's true for pretty much the whole Australia batting line-up.

 

[Spark]

'My journey as captain has changed my life' | The Australian

Punter writes.

As a young kid riding my BMX all over Launceston to watch the local Mowbray grade team, I always dreamed of playing for Australia and perhaps one day even being captain. To think that those dreams became a reality and I got to lead some of the greatest cricketers ever on to cricket grounds all over the world now gives me goose bumps, as I reflect on what we have done.

Being captain of Australia has not only changed my life, it has also taught me the real significance of values, the true meaning of accountability, a deeper respect for mateship and an overwhelming feeling of national pride and responsibility.


It has also taught me to become a teacher, a trusted confidant and a better friend. You develop skills that you never thought you had, ensuring you provide your team with the best possible environment and direction to be successful. You learn to take criticism on board, you learn to give feedback in a way that your players respond to, and you learn to set an example in your everyday performance around the team.

It is sad in a way that he's going. Until that last bit at the end he was without peer as a man-manager and leader of men in the cricket world IMO.

NB. How many dog puns will we see tomorrow, I wonder

 

[Burgey]

Ian Chappell gave up the captaincy in 1975, played for a few years under Greg until WSC. Or was it just that one season, didnt Ian retire from tests in 1976? and then came back for WSC and a few more tests in 1980?

Greg was skipper in 75-76 and Ian played. After WSC he played again, as you said.

I don't think Ian played the 76/77 series vs Pakistan and certainly not the Centenary Test.

 

[GIMH]

Well we can't blame you for not being completely sure Burgey, you were 50 at the time

 

[silentstriker]

Very disappointing. Having been the beneficiaries of some epic captaincy decisions, all Indian fans clearly wanted him to be captain when they toured India next.

With that said, as a batsmen, and for the team, I think it's the right move. He's pretty much achieved everything (except a Test series in India, and an Ashes away) a captain could achieve, and if he wants to get a few more years out of his batting, now is the time to change it up.

Best batsman of this decade...let's hope he can play until 2013 or so.

 

[howardj]

Mate... You keep going on with this whole dump the oldies and bring in the rooks thing

I've consistently stated that I would retain two of the old guard (two out of Haddin, Ponting, Hussey and Katich) but certainly not all four. My point is, we just got humiliated in our backyard with all these four older players in the team. I can understand clinging to old guys who are performing and helping us win and stay at the top of world cricket (Warne, McGrath etc), but you don't cling to old guys who are part of a team that's getting lapped (we're ranked 5th in the world, and just lost by an innings on three separate occassion to the 4th ranked team in the world in our own backyard).

but are there really many young domestic batsmen around who really have the performances to deserve a test cap.?

I look at it the other way mate....

Did Hussey deserve a Test cap over the past two years? Did Ponting, who averaged in the teens against the Poms, and has averaged sub 40 in the last two years, acquit himself well? Did Marcus North deserve such a long run? The point is that how on earth could potential replacements have done any worse than what our batsmen have served up since Ashes 2009? Even if they did as bad, at least there's scope for improvement in guys like Ferguson, Usman, Lynn, Smith etc. There's none in Hussey, Ponting, North, Katich etc. That's the whole point in going for younger players - it's not about their birth certificates rather it's that their games have scope for improvement in a way that already underperforming players such as Hussey's, Ponting's, Katich's do not.

I think Ricky made a good point during the worldcup that in his time a batsman with a domestic average less than 60 won't usually be considered for higher honours, and frankly speaking those are the sort of standards the selectors and the upcoming domestic batsmen need to have in their minds.

The pitches are far more sporting these days in Shield cricket, so the comparison is a little unfair. The problem is that people look for the perfect set of stats in looking for a replacement (while at the same time tolerating appalling performances served up by our Test bats since Ashes 2009). There's nothing wrong with Callum Ferguson's FC record for instance over the past two years. In fact, it's mirrored the promise he's showed in his ODI career during that same period. His FC record is much more nuanced that just merely quoting his overall average of 35. Likewise, Usman's FC record is outstanding as is Chris Lynn's from Queensland. Let's not forget that Slater was picked after just one good FC season, as was Martyn.

Ponting as I have said previously has been weighed down by injuries and burden of captaincy, but I have little doubt that he is going comeback really strongly now and writing him off just yet isn't fair.

I hope he does mate.

But it frankly shocks me the number of people on here who expect Ponting to come out and be a gun over the next two or three years. He's had big problems against pace bowling since Roach roughed him up some 18 months ago. He averages less than 40 over the past two years, and he's coming off an Ashes series where he averaged in the teens. To think that a 37 year old such as that will come out and blaze away for the next couple of years shows in my view little understanding of the history of cricket, and the demands of professional sport as you age. He may come out and smash it, but on the balance of probabilities, it's likely he won't.

 

[Furball]

I don't remember Sri Lanka going to Australia and winning 3 Tests by an innings.

 

[biased indian]

Greg was skipper in 75-76 and Ian played. After WSC he played again, as you said.

I don't think Ian played the 76/77 series vs Pakistan and certainly not the Centenary Test.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/508642.html

 

[vcs]

Very disappointing. Having been the beneficiaries of some epic captaincy decisions, all Indian fans clearly wanted him to be captain when they toured India next.

With that said, as a batsmen, and for the team, I think it's the right move. He's pretty much achieved everything (except a Test match in India, and an Ashes away) a captain could achieve, and if he wants to get a few more years out of his batting, now is the time to change it up.

Best batsman of this decade...let's hope he can play until 2013 or so.

Fixed...

Seriously, end of an era in Aussie cricket as many have pointed out.

 

[zaremba]

I want to pay tribute to the man. He may be a hairy little chimp-runt but is nonetheless one of the finest players of the game of all time - we are lucky to have seen him play

 

[howardj]

I don't remember Sri Lanka going to Australia and winning 3 Tests by an innings.

at the time, the Poms were ranked 4th