Who is a better captain - Sangkara or Ponting?
Yes, I wanted to ask a question and it is not an opinion poll; I just want opinions :)
Think in terms of:
1. Eloquence while talking to the media
2. Leadership of team
3. Being defensive on the ground
4. Sledging
Please write comments. It will be interesting reading for all.
Showing posts with label Ricky Ponting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ricky Ponting. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Ponting's real test
Ponting is thought to be greatest Australian test captain ever by many leading analysts. He has led Australian cricket team successfully over last 5 years. Consider this:
- Australia's winning percentage of tests under his captaincy is more than any other Australian captain.
- He has always led from front by contributing heavily in middle order. His batting record speaks volumes - a batting average of more than 50, more centuries than any other Australian. (He may even go on to become leading century scorer in the world - Most Hundreds in tests)
- His team hold the record of winning most tests on the trot.
- He was Man of the Series as Australia became the first team in 86 years to achieve an Ashes clean sweep.
Did Ponting make Australia near invincible or was there some other factor in play. Australia was already number 1 test team before Ponting took over. What made them number 1 team? The answer is Steve Waugh.
Ponting took the baton from Steve Waugh as a test captain at the beginning of 2004 (by that time he was already captaining one day side). He not only inherited the captaincy from an extremely successful captain but also inherited hugely talented players. His playing 11 included Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Langer, Hayden, Gillespie, Martyn, Lehmann, Lee and Ponting himself. All of them were match winners in their own right and all of them had impressive records. It was next to impossible that anyone could beat the team comprising of these players.
The credit must go to Waugh for making an unbeatable outfit. The players and the team was nurtured by Steve Waugh. All these match winners (except for Lee and Ponting) have since then retired leaving Australian team in dire straits. Neither CA nor Ponting realized what would happen once these were not available. They didn't take any preventive action to fill their places at right time.
Today team is bereft of greats' services and half of the team consists of bunch of inexperienced players. Australia started losing there domination near the end of 2007. 2008 was the worst year for them in recent history - they lost test series to India and SA.
It is true that Ponting has services of Clarke and Hussey but apart from them there is no one in the team who can match the previous team's greats. It is also true that they won the test series again SA in their own backyard with new players. But the real test for Ponting has already begun.
- Can Ponting leave behind a good team to relive the great moments?
- Can he create a near invincible team?
- Can he relive Waugh's legacy?
Only time will answer these questions. If Ponting is able to successfully lead his team for next two years and pass over a winning combination to next captain (most probably Clarke), history will remember him forever.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
There are tests and then there is Ashes
Ashes is considered as most important tournament among Australian and English fans. Fans, critics, analysts, players alike consider it to be more important than many other prestigious tournaments.
One just has to follow the news coming out of Australian and English camps to notice the premium attached to Ashes.
1. Players and important stakeholders started talking about Ashes even before Australian team landed in England. Even while they preparing for T20 World Cup (considered to be more important than a test series in all other countries), all they talked about was Ashes.
June 4, 2009
Siddle ready for Ashes taunts
June 2, 2009
Pietersen thrilled by Ashes talent pool
May 29, 2009
Ponting warns England against half-fit Flintoff
May 26, 2009
Lee and Clark no certainties for first Test
May 24, 2009
England switched Ashes venues on purpose - Ponting
May 20, 2009
England can win Ashes - Flower
2. Former players, who were moot participants in T20 World Cup were/are talking fervently about Ashes.
Don't rely on Bopara for the Ashes - Warne
Gilchrist not convinced of Flintoff's fitness
Dropping Vaughan a mistake - Warne
Hayden warns Australians on reverse-swing
Use World Twenty20 to build Ashes momentum - Gough
3. Current players are no different - they were/are talking more about Ashes even while playing in T20 World Cup.
Pietersen ready for 'big allrounder' Johnson
Siddle wants new-ball responsibility
Reverse-swing could decide Ashes - Pietersen
Fit Flintoff desperate for the Ashes
Lee and Clark train sights on Strauss
4. England set off for secret bonding session
5. England hire Ashes most successful Australian coach in the hope of winning ashes.
Buchanan agrees ECB deal
Why a bilateral test series is considered so prestigious? I do not have the answer for it. Perhaps it has something to do with maintaining the old cricket order. One thing is for sure test cricket will survive the onslaught of T20, at least in England and Australia.
One just has to follow the news coming out of Australian and English camps to notice the premium attached to Ashes.
1. Players and important stakeholders started talking about Ashes even before Australian team landed in England. Even while they preparing for T20 World Cup (considered to be more important than a test series in all other countries), all they talked about was Ashes.
June 4, 2009
Siddle ready for Ashes taunts
June 2, 2009
Pietersen thrilled by Ashes talent pool
May 29, 2009
Ponting warns England against half-fit Flintoff
May 26, 2009
Lee and Clark no certainties for first Test
May 24, 2009
England switched Ashes venues on purpose - Ponting
May 20, 2009
England can win Ashes - Flower
2. Former players, who were moot participants in T20 World Cup were/are talking fervently about Ashes.
Don't rely on Bopara for the Ashes - Warne
Gilchrist not convinced of Flintoff's fitness
Dropping Vaughan a mistake - Warne
Hayden warns Australians on reverse-swing
Use World Twenty20 to build Ashes momentum - Gough
3. Current players are no different - they were/are talking more about Ashes even while playing in T20 World Cup.
Pietersen ready for 'big allrounder' Johnson
Siddle wants new-ball responsibility
Reverse-swing could decide Ashes - Pietersen
Fit Flintoff desperate for the Ashes
Lee and Clark train sights on Strauss
4. England set off for secret bonding session
5. England hire Ashes most successful Australian coach in the hope of winning ashes.
Buchanan agrees ECB deal
Why a bilateral test series is considered so prestigious? I do not have the answer for it. Perhaps it has something to do with maintaining the old cricket order. One thing is for sure test cricket will survive the onslaught of T20, at least in England and Australia.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
It is a Gentlemen's game - There is no place for indscipline
A nice article from Cricinfo's chronicles. It takes a cue from history and shows us why discipline is important for the game.
When the boot was on the other foot
When the boot was on the other foot
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ponting's poor run continues
Ponting and Australia, yet again, have been fined for slow over-rates.
Australia rapped for slow over-rate
What excuse can Ponting provide this time around? They are playing in Queen's country (Queen is symbolic state head of Australia). Ponting was very harsh and critical when he was fined for getting behind the over-rate in India.
Excerpt from Ponting blames Indian batsmen for slow over rate
“I have said since I got back that there are a host of things that conspire against you in India. It is a hard place for fast bowlers to keep running in and get through their overs,” Ponting was quoted as saying in The Australian.
“The sightscreen and spectators play more of a part than they do anywhere else in the world. Their batsmen take up a lot more time than most opposition batsmen do. I mean runs cost you time as much as anything else. When a lot of boundaries are being scored that slows things down a lot,” he said.
What excuse did Ponting have when they couldn't complete requisite quota of overs in the test match against New Zealand? Excerpt from CA takes Ponting to task for slow over rates
Australian captain Ricky Ponting got a rap on the knuckles by Cricket Australia (CA) for being unable to maintain over rates in the first Test against New Zealand.Ponting was fined 30 per cent of his match fee while the other players were docked half for falling three overs short.
“The Australian team clearly needs to look into the reasons why it has not, in recent times, been on top of its game in regard to over rates. The rules and regulations are very clear and we are falling behind, which is not good enough,” CA chief executive James Sutherland was quoted as saying by The Australian.
In fact slow over-rate has been Ponting's bane and his perenial problem. Excerpt from Ponting faces flak for his excuses for slow-over rate in India
Ponting-led teams have never averaged more than the minimum of 15 overs per hour in any series since he took over from Steve Waugh for the series in Sri Lanka in 2003-04.
The best over-rate Ponting’s team has averaged in any Test series is 14.74 per hour against Sri Lanka in Australia in 2004.
That is still short of the mark of 15 overs an hour set down by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Australia’s slowest over-rate in any series under Ponting was 12.78 per hour against the West Indies in the Caribbean this year — while the Indian tour last month (13.38) was the third worst.
Far too many people, including former captains Steve Waugh and Ian Chappel, have critisized him for his on-field tactics but does he listen? A choice of articles from the web
Ricky Ponting under fire after over rates farce
Steve Waugh joins list of Ponting critics
Lame over-rate, lame excuse
Australia rapped for slow over-rate
What excuse can Ponting provide this time around? They are playing in Queen's country (Queen is symbolic state head of Australia). Ponting was very harsh and critical when he was fined for getting behind the over-rate in India.
Excerpt from Ponting blames Indian batsmen for slow over rate
“I have said since I got back that there are a host of things that conspire against you in India. It is a hard place for fast bowlers to keep running in and get through their overs,” Ponting was quoted as saying in The Australian.
“The sightscreen and spectators play more of a part than they do anywhere else in the world. Their batsmen take up a lot more time than most opposition batsmen do. I mean runs cost you time as much as anything else. When a lot of boundaries are being scored that slows things down a lot,” he said.
What excuse did Ponting have when they couldn't complete requisite quota of overs in the test match against New Zealand? Excerpt from CA takes Ponting to task for slow over rates
Australian captain Ricky Ponting got a rap on the knuckles by Cricket Australia (CA) for being unable to maintain over rates in the first Test against New Zealand.Ponting was fined 30 per cent of his match fee while the other players were docked half for falling three overs short.
“The Australian team clearly needs to look into the reasons why it has not, in recent times, been on top of its game in regard to over rates. The rules and regulations are very clear and we are falling behind, which is not good enough,” CA chief executive James Sutherland was quoted as saying by The Australian.
In fact slow over-rate has been Ponting's bane and his perenial problem. Excerpt from Ponting faces flak for his excuses for slow-over rate in India
Ponting-led teams have never averaged more than the minimum of 15 overs per hour in any series since he took over from Steve Waugh for the series in Sri Lanka in 2003-04.
The best over-rate Ponting’s team has averaged in any Test series is 14.74 per hour against Sri Lanka in Australia in 2004.
That is still short of the mark of 15 overs an hour set down by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Australia’s slowest over-rate in any series under Ponting was 12.78 per hour against the West Indies in the Caribbean this year — while the Indian tour last month (13.38) was the third worst.
Far too many people, including former captains Steve Waugh and Ian Chappel, have critisized him for his on-field tactics but does he listen? A choice of articles from the web
Ricky Ponting under fire after over rates farce
Steve Waugh joins list of Ponting critics
Lame over-rate, lame excuse
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Most Hundreds in tests
Who holds the the record of scoring most hundreds in his test career?
There are no points for guessing the right answer. The record is held by one and only "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar". At the time of posting Tendulkar has 42 test hundreds against his name.
More important question is when will "number of centuries" record be broken?
The answer is never.
Unless there are serious changes in the way test cricket is played the record will never be broken. Maybe they start playing with wider bats or white ball; maybe boundaries are shortened or number of fielding players are reduced. All these scenarios are unlikely.
In current form of test cricket, the record will never be broken. It took brilliance of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (who retired with 34 centuries against his name) to break decades old record of Sir Donald George Bradman of 29 centuries. None of Bradman's or Gavaskar's peers came close to breaking their record. It took Tendulkar's brilliance and his love for the game to break the record.
Can anyone match or exceed Tendulkar's talent in future? Yes.
I am an optimist and an avid cricket fan. I think many more players will come who would be as brilliant as Tendulkar, maybe more so. But it is highly unlikely that anyone be able to play as many test matches as Tendulkar in future. With the advent of T20 cricket and dying interest in tests, I don't think, anyone will be able to surpass Sir Bradman's record let alone come close to Tendulkar's record. In near future a player would play lesser number of tests per year. I am not against test cricket; in fact I like test cricket as much T20 but given the current trend T20 holds more public interest.
Is there a remote possibility for record to be broken?
Only Ricky Ponting (37 centuries) and Jacques Kallis (31 centuries), who are plying active cricket have outside chance of coming close to Tendulkar's record. Ponting has better chances than Kallis but I still think they too will not be able to break the record. On the other side Kevin Pietersen or Mahela Jayawardene may go past Sir Bradman's record but that too seems unlikely.
There are no points for guessing the right answer. The record is held by one and only "Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar". At the time of posting Tendulkar has 42 test hundreds against his name.
More important question is when will "number of centuries" record be broken?
The answer is never.
Unless there are serious changes in the way test cricket is played the record will never be broken. Maybe they start playing with wider bats or white ball; maybe boundaries are shortened or number of fielding players are reduced. All these scenarios are unlikely.
In current form of test cricket, the record will never be broken. It took brilliance of Sunil Manohar Gavaskar (who retired with 34 centuries against his name) to break decades old record of Sir Donald George Bradman of 29 centuries. None of Bradman's or Gavaskar's peers came close to breaking their record. It took Tendulkar's brilliance and his love for the game to break the record.
Can anyone match or exceed Tendulkar's talent in future? Yes.
I am an optimist and an avid cricket fan. I think many more players will come who would be as brilliant as Tendulkar, maybe more so. But it is highly unlikely that anyone be able to play as many test matches as Tendulkar in future. With the advent of T20 cricket and dying interest in tests, I don't think, anyone will be able to surpass Sir Bradman's record let alone come close to Tendulkar's record. In near future a player would play lesser number of tests per year. I am not against test cricket; in fact I like test cricket as much T20 but given the current trend T20 holds more public interest.
Is there a remote possibility for record to be broken?
Only Ricky Ponting (37 centuries) and Jacques Kallis (31 centuries), who are plying active cricket have outside chance of coming close to Tendulkar's record. Ponting has better chances than Kallis but I still think they too will not be able to break the record. On the other side Kevin Pietersen or Mahela Jayawardene may go past Sir Bradman's record but that too seems unlikely.
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