Punter to make history?

[Rik E Boy]

LMAO He wants to go around (i.e.to England) again. Is he going for his hat trick? Great batsman, crap captain. Bec Wilson said she 'couldn't see what he had done wrong' this morning. Someone hasn't been watching.

Worry about the Windies Rick, you've blown your chance for redemption. Mark Thompson = Ricky Ponting? I hope not!

regards,

REB

[Stumps]

I agree he's not the worlds best captain, and quite poor compared to the taylor's and borders (in terms of onfield tactics)- however, he is the best australian batsman sice bradman, his team mates seem to idolise him and support him 100% and play "for him" which to me still makes him a bloody good captain. This country is getting more and more like the bloody poms who turn their back on their own as soon as something goes wrong. The way I see the series

Ponting made a ton first test, if johnson could hit the cut stuff we would have won.
test 3 at the lords- if our middle and lower order showed some balls we would have won
test 5- We batted like crap in the first innings- even a modest score on a road (Which it was on day2) and we would have won comfortably with ponting hitting the winning runs. That makes it 4-0.
None of it has anything to do with ponting. Im not his biggest fan, but sheesh he can bat and his teammates love him, who am i to argue. if you want a scapegoat there is 7 or 8 of the team ahead of him.

[Gozu]

I was having an argument on the phone with my brother about this last night. He's in the "sack Ponting" boat, I'm not. Tactically he's been found wanting a few times now and he has to take his share of the blame for not picking Hauritz in the 5th Test but he galvanises the side and they seem to play for him and have a lot of respect for him. If there were an obvious replacement well that might be different but IMO Michael Clarke isn't it and if he is he still has a long way to go.

[Rik E Boy]

I reckon Greg Chappell was better than Ponting. Ponting has the average but Punter never faced the West Indies greats. Punter's recent form hasn't been great either but I remember Greggy's dismal run in the early 80's when the guy couldn't buy a run.

regards,

REB

[Stumps]

your the only one iv ever heard of that thinks that way but each to their own reb

[smithy]

I reckon Greg Chappell was better than Ponting. Ponting has the average but Punter never faced the West Indies greats.

Neither did Bradman.

[Cambridge Clarrie]

Never saw Chappell. Have seen him on old footage and his technique looked superb. Best player I've seen was Mark Waugh. Didn't have the best average, most runs, etc, but he played shots that were simply a joy to watch.

I've never like Ponting 'the man', but Ponting the batsman has to rate up there with the all time greats...

[Rik E Boy]

your the only one iv ever heard of that thinks that way but each to their own reb

Ponting is a gun to be sure but you didn't see Greg Chappell going hard at the ball early on his innings, getting squared up and falling away from leg like Punter does. It seems to happen when Punter is yet to 'get in' once he is in he is sublime but technically, Chappell is the better player for mine.

As for the Bradman comment fair dinkum smithy.

regards,

REB

[Grahaml]

I'm not really sure I could say whether he's good or bad. We all seem to have this expectation that a captain will always come up with a plan that works. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. I don't think he's shown himself to be a great captain, but he's ok. He leads from the front, he's contributing with the bat (are we better off with an average captain capable of scoring runs at 3 averaging 50 or a good captain opening averaging 25 a la Mark Taylor at times?).

Most of the time a field placement does very little to change the game. If you can make the batsman play a different shot or just think about what you've done then that's what you're hoping for. Most wickets are still bowled, leg before or caught in a regulation position.

While bowling changes are also hit and miss. When things are going well for one bowler, they usually go well for most. When things are tough for one bowler then things are usually tough for all of them. When the batsmen are on top a change might help, but usually things don't change. I can't think of too many times Ponting made an obvious mistake. He changes when he needs to, and really it's up to the bowlers to perform better in most cases.