**Official** Ponting Tribute Thread

[cnerd123]

awta

Although mathematically it is more of a difference that 99.94 and 100.

 

[smash84]

Although mathematically it is more of a difference that 99.94 and 100.

yeah but 99.94 was already in the stratosphere and for all practical purposes people consider it a 100

 

[Satyanash89]

Three Ponting moments ill always remember:

The catch off dinesh karthick at silly point in that 2004 test in Mumbai. Best close-in catch ive ever seen.
The six he hit in the WC final that never happened, off a Srinath (i think) full toss , that he deposited a mile into the 2nd or 3rd tier
His expression after getting out in Manchester 05

Champion cricketer whom i hated with a passion for the majority of his career but theres no denying how amazing he was to watch. Hope he has a fairytale ending in the second gig... probably will, too, im calling a hundred

there really isn't any difference between 51.95 and 52.00.

Stupid stats-****s wont see it that way though... this isnt the 90s when an average of 50 was very rare and something to be treasured.
its a superb average, but it just shows how badly he's fallen away since 07. average has dropped by almost 8 runs in 5 years... quite astonishing, really

 

[bagapath]

well, the most ferocious pull in the game is going to retire; and the scorching drive and the electric fielding too. for the countless number of hours of fun that ricky provided cricket fans all over the world with his never say die spirit and clean, agressive cricket he deserves a big thanks. with his amazing talent and unsullied approach towards his profession, he is going to have a super successful life post professional-cricket too, i am sure.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

there really isn't any difference between 51.95 and 52.00.

Except in a CW thread comparing him to Jonathan Trott in fifteen years' time.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Ponting has to get 46 or more in the second innings to avoid finishing his career with an average in the 51's. Be a pity if it happens, because it really doesn't do him justice.

well he has been a bit crap for the best part of four years now

 

[Viscount Tom]

Robelinda, the lunatic responsible for most of his YouTube Punter-porn, has even uploaded a compilation that he says includes every run out Ponting ever made in international cricket.

Fro the link Rob put up XD.

 

[Furball]

People who remember the good old days of when I used to post in Cricket Chat more than once a year know that I don't typically like watching players without textbook technique

Didn't you champion Phil Hughes just before his Test debut?

 

[robelinda]

Between you and me, Ponting isn't our second best

 

[uvelocity]

junk article

 

[Red]

junk article

Why?

 

[uvelocity]

stats cant tell you everything

they can't tell you during ponting's career Gilchrist redefined the role of keeper

aside from how much better you are than the other players in your team is irrelevant to how good you are

he can shove his abacus up his clacker

 

[kyear2]

If Poting had retired after 87 games (games Chappell played) or even at 100 what would his average have been compared to his teammates, also don't see why he should be punished by playing with 2 good openers and the greatest ever wk batsman.
For mine Ponting could dominate and dictate to an attack considerably more than Border ever could and for me easily after only Chappell as the best Aussie batsman after Bradman

 

[LongHopCassidy]

If they took Ponting's peak career average of 59.99 (at the start of the 06/07 Ashes) and divided it by the same team average, then he'd be better than Border and almost as good as Chappell.

 

[Burgey]

stats cant tell you everything

they can't tell you during ponting's career Gilchrist redefined the role of keeper

aside from how much better you are than the other players in your team is irrelevant to how good you are

he can shove his abacus up his clacker

He'd be we'll loved on CW, where the big issue is whether you finish with a career average of 52 or 51.95.

 

[Days of Grace]

Meh, Punter disadvanted too much by having other very good batsmen in his team.


Anyway, on my unfinished ratings, he is just ahead of Chappell and Waugh in close battle for second. Will keep you posted.

 

[burr]

A lot of people in the thread saying how Ponting was their childhood hero etc....But I'm slightly different. For me, Ponting was my childhood villain. The Australian captain and best batsmen, who was happy to mouth off at times (especially when run out by people named Pratt). But that kinda makes his career even more memorable for me. For the first 3 years that I followed cricket, he was the best batsmen in the world, bar none. He was always the guy piling up the runs against England in my early days as a fan and was the guy I feared most in world cricket.

But over the last few years I've warmed to him much more, probably because he hasn't been piling on the runs against England, and in the last couple of years of his career, I've really been desperate for him to do well. He's gone from being one of my least favourite cricketers, to one of my favourites, while always being someone I rated and respected. The cricket world will feel different for me without him in it.

Yeah, Ponting was never my favourite batsman. In fact, I remember often witnessing him scoring runs live and wishing he'd get out so my favourite, Martyn, could come in. So I won't miss him b/c he was my favourite. I'll miss him because he was one of the greatest ever. It was an absolute privilege to have seen him bat, in the same way it was an absolute privilege to have seen Shane Warne bowl. More than than, he was the greatest fieldsman of his generation. He and Mark Waugh are a class above anyone else to have played in modern times. I still miss the latter. I will miss the former greatly.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Gideon Haigh summed him up in the 06-07 Ashes when he said once he got to 20 he set like a giant, immovable chunk of concrete. I think once he started to get out in the 30s and 40s a few years ago it was the first sign he was on the wane.

I'm really glad now I took Burgeinho to that Sydney test last summer when he made that ton. I think the young bloke learned more watching Ponting practice in the lead up to that game than any other single thing he's watched. The focus and the way the worked on his foot movement in the lead up to that game was incredible to watch. Just relentless focus.

And God-given gifts too.

We owe him more than many appreciate in this country, I think. When the great side he led became no more, still he soldiered on manfully. Setting high standards that some of his recent team mates simply couldn't emulate. I suspect that contributed to much of his sometimes all-too demonstrative frustration as captain in later years.

For mine, his match saving 150 in the third test of the 05 Ashes was his greatest innings. Here was a bloke, the most fluent if stroke players, grinding out a day five hundred against a rampant attack with his team on the ropes. To my mind he went from a very, very good player to a great in one day.

And that's without his fielding, of course. So many blinders, so many run outs. I recall his catch at silly point on the last day of the final test in India in 04. I think it's maybe the best close in catch I've seen. Anticipation, reflexes, technique all in one. And as he rose to celebrate, he did the Cantona-like pose: arms out stretched in a moment of the greatest understatement; as though a more demonstrative celebration would have detracted from the feat which proceeded it.

He could bludgeon, he could beguile, and he could just make your jaw drop with those crazy highs he had as a batsman; perhaps second only to Lara in terms of scaling batting heights on his day. The bowling just seemed all the same to him.


What a cricketer he has been.

Remember watching Punter scoring 100 against England at The Gabba. The bloke could be gruff, but I think we've seen more of the man himself in the last few years.

Is a legend.

 

[Pothas]

nice article

The Joy of Six: Ricky Ponting | Andy Bull and Rob Smyth | Sport | guardian.co.uk

A mention of Aftab Habib is always most welcome.

 

[popepouri]

I'll sum him up as an all-time great player that overstayed his welcome in the end.