Ponting under pressure
Ricky Ponting’s latest “Captain’s Diary”, his look-back over Australia’s cricketing year, starts off with the dictionary definitions of two words: “revenge” (retaliatory punishment) and “redemption” (improving of something).
From the outset of his daily chronicle, he is determined to make clear that Australia’s successful reclamation of the Ashes with its lop-sided 5-0 victory over England was motivated not by “revenge” and had everything to do with “redemption”. Mindful of his team’s “win at all costs” reputation, clearly he does not like to be portrayed as the hard-nosed skipper of a mean and nasty outfit.
We play hard, is the over-riding message, but we play fair.
With sometimes numbing precision, his books details all manner of things from the exorbitant cost of getting clothes laundered in England; his love of golf and the greyhounds (which earned him his nickname “Punter”); and the devotion to his wife, Rianna (“It’s no coincidence that my best days as a cricketer have occurred since I met you”). Displaying a work ethic that is positively Presbyterian, he likes to be the first to reach training and the last to leave.
In parts, the book is not so much a running commentary as a running rebuttal. Few on-field slights are left unchallenged, nor much criticism from the commentary box.
This passage, complaining of how the England slip cordon kept performing Shane Warne impressions during the fifth Test in Sydney, neatly sums things up.
“This went on for ages, long past the time when it might have been funny… To me, it looked pretty juvenile, hardly the actions of a side trying to win back some pride after being thrashed so comprehensively in the first four Tests.”
These are the recollections of a man with an elephantine memory for personal disparagement - of a very thin-skinned and peevish individual.
So how will the Tasmanian respond to the kitbag full of criticism which he has endured over the past few days?
How about this from , whose withering onslaught made it onto the front page of his paper.
“Ricky Ponting must be sacked as captain of the Australian cricket team,” he wrote, in a laser-guided attack. “If Cricket Australia cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a moment longer tolerate the sort of arrogant and abrasive conduct seen from the captain and his senior players over the past few days.”
And how about the back page headline of Sydney’s Daily Telegraph – “Punters Turn on Punter”. It carried the findings of an online poll - admittedly never the most scientific survey of the public pulse. It suggested that 79% do not think the Australian team play in the true spirit of the game, and that 83% do not think Ricky Ponting is a good ambassador for the game of cricket.
I’ve spoken before about Australia’s almost sacred fairness doctrine, this unwritten rulebook which regulates conduct. Reflecting on the manner of victory in the second test at Sydney, it seems many here feel the Australians violated the acceptable bounds of fair play, with their excessive celebrations and verbal sledging.
Furthermore, it seems many feel that the Indians were not given a fair go by the umpires, particularly Steve Bucknor, whose string of bad decisions contributed to their defeat.
No right-thinking individual would defend Harbhajan if he did indeed call the black all-rounder Andrew Symonds a “monkey”. Still, there is a sense that the Australians have helped create the kind of hostile and abusive climate in which such comments are made.
Bizarrely in the midst of this “Bollyline” series, some of the Australian team went back to the Sydney Cricket Ground yesterday to film part of a Bollywood movie - a case of art imitating sporting life. But it is the way the team act on the field which is now coming under such scrutiny. There are some who clearly feel they deserve an Academy award for bad sportsmanship.
In his defence, I have to say that the only time I have spent any time with Ponting, at a Melbourne Cup Day party just before the 2006 Ashes series, he was friendly, interesting, candid and excellent company. He also provided the useful insider’s titbit that of all England’s injured and missing players, a casualty list which included Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescosthick, it was the troublesome bowler Simon Jones whom he thought would be missed the most - a telling prediction.
At news conferences, I’ve always found him unfailingly courteous, with the occasional good gag and a happy knack of avoiding the most obvious and plodding sporting cliches - all that “we’ll give it 110%” rubbish.
Judging by his response to previous criticism, the current round of barbs will play on his mind for months to come. And then we’ll get no doubt get a glimpse of his private thoughts in next year’s “Captain's Diary”.
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Bucknor and Ponting have been made the scapegoats here. Neither of them have done anything wrong. Ponting played hard and Bucknor made a few mistakes. So what? Aussies have always played hard and umpires have always made mistakes.
None of the Australians' celebrations in Sydney was attended by quite the exuberance with which Harbhajan Singh celebrated taking Ricky Ponting's wicket in the second Australian innings. However, there is no rule against celebrations per se and neither Singh nor the Australians should be criticised for engaging in them.
You write of "excessive verbal sledging" by the Australians during the second test. What evidence is there of this? None of the Indian players, nor any of the umpires, has spoken publicly of "excessive verbal sledging" by Australian players during the test. On the contrary, the public debate, insofar as it has concerned any form of sledging, has focussed on the alleged racial abuse by Harbhajan Singh of Andrew Symonds. And, as you say, 'no right-thinking individual would defend Harbhajan if he did indeed call the black all-rounder Andrew Symonds a “monkey”'.
When making reference to the controversial views propounded by cricket writer Peter Roebuck, you might also have made reference to the prominent and contrary views expressed by well-respected cricket writer Malcolm Conn - see, for example,
Thank you Mr. Bryant. When one hasn't got an opinion on a matter, it's nice to be given a piece of unbiased reporting. I really appreciate the way in which you quote from Mr. Ponting's book before offering a humanistic alternative to the sledging debate. A debate which sledges sledging quite vehemently in some quarters (I believe that this is hypocritical), but sticks up for it as sportsmanship in others (is that also contrary?). Ultimately this is a debate in which both sides counter their own sanctimonious argument. Thank you for countering both these arguments with some fact.
This is a storm in a tea cup because the Indian cricket team cannot compete with the Australian cricket team. Before they left India and after their arrival all we heard was how they would defeat Australia. Well two tests, and they still cannot compete with Australia. How could India bat like Australia on the 5th day of the Sydney test and then bowl out Australia? How will they cope with the WACCA wicket as it is nothing like any cricket wicket they play on? I am prepared to wait till all tests are played and then judge both sides.
This is a slightly curious article. It feels like it is starting to build a case against the Australian team under Ponting, and then comes up with the revelation that in the author's only actual face to face meetings with the guy he has been nothing but courteous.
If the worst thing he has been is a bit thin-skinned it is hardly worth the commotion, but actually this is not what it is about. And while it may not be well put, I can see what Ponting was getting at in his comments on the England slip fielders. People have different views on sledging. I don't like it, others accept it as part of the game now (and it does also occur in other sports). Australia have taken it to a new level, well before Ponting came on the scene, but even with my dislike of the practice I can see they do it with an aim that is towards unsettling an opponent and winning. England's efforts by contrast often seem more just for the sake of it - Shane Warne impersonations are more likely to have pricked his competitive instinct than unsettled him. And I suspect that was Ponting's point on this - that it was ill-conceived and misdirected.
The other aspect on this whole saga I find interesting is that here is one of the most successful teams of all time in any sport, and as the article acknowledges, despite this its own public is turning against it for its win-at-all-costs mentality. Nobody I can see here in England is picking up on this, and the uncomfortable point that arises. Have the Australian people got a higher sense of fair play than the English who like to perceive themselves as the owners of fair play? Bad press in England only comes if you are unsuccessful - and then in spades, whereas win and you are almost untouchable. I cannot imagine the public reaction here being against the team in the same circumstances, and the Australian public at least should be commended in saying enough.
There are a number of players in the Aussie team who, in my opinion, do play the game hard but fair, such as Gilchrist, Brett Lee and both Clarkes, but there are others who take it too far on the pitch. Australia are not alone in this, other countries are just as bad.
There are a number of players in the Aussie team who, in my opinion, do play the game hard but fair, such as Gilchrist, Brett Lee and both Clarkes, but there are others who take it too far on the pitch. Australia are not alone in this, other countries are just as bad.
The way Austrila played there cricket in Sydney and supported by the umpires ..if that is in the rule books.... than I invite Austrilan Cricket team to visit my home town in Bokaro (India) at least once and also please take hindi clases before coming, so that they can understan properly what sledging means . Umpiring...... don't worry we will teach you the umpiring... which will be approved by the CA according to SCG standered.
SAME ON THIS AUSTRILAN TEAM AND EVERY BODY WHO SUPPORTED THEM AFTER SCG.
WE PROUD OF OUR NATIONAL CRICKET TEAM. CHAK DIYAAAAAAAAAA.....INDIAAAAAAAAAAA
Australians are the now Best Test playing Team in World. They can not only bring pressure in the Game to the Umpires, the Opposite teams, the as a Leader they also SET an Example to the World and millions of there fans back in INDIA that to win a game of Cricket you have to be a BAD SPORTSMAN, without spirit. Or else they should ban the SLOW MOTIONS and just play with a "NEUTRAL" Umpire appointed my Australian Board... I am sorry ICC..
Well rounded comment piece. I think this whole situation is quite unfortunate. Australia create the psychological attack environment with their use of verbal prodding and sledging. It was unfortunate and wrong that Harbhajan took it too far with a racially motivated slur, but it is understandable considering the pressure he is put under at the crease. It would be so much simpler if all sledging was treated as a violation, that way it would be easier to monitor - rather than the greyness we have now where I can say my team is going to enjoy shagging your wife but you cannot call me a monkey.
Thanks Bryant.
Another example of a journalist trying to cut the best team in the world down a notch, because of jealousy. Who's the bad guy here? Is it really Andrew Symonds? Or is it the racist who slurred him? Is it really Ricky Ponting? Or is it that you don't like the fact he pulverises every attack in the world and deflates the hopes of other teams?
The Indian team should just get over it and play cricket. They lost, and they can't handle it, so they have to find someone, anyone, to blame. Had they survived another seven balls, barely a word would have been said. But they LOST, having expected a win. This is the best team in the world you're playing. Get over yourselves. So Symonds got a lucky call - and what about Tendulkar in the first innings? On 34 he was plumb to Michael Clarke, and not given out. So Michael Clarke didn't walk when he edged to slip? What about Sharma, the last wicket of the Test - did he walk? Funny he should 'forget' to bring two different gloves out to the middle, isn't it?
you LOST, and you can't handle it. Don't hold the series to ransom just because you're still sucking on sour grapes.
And Bryant - let me guess, an England supporter, right?
Whinging sportsmen are just that. When your side is being defeated, the loser looks to blame anyone but themself. The Australians did it during Bodyline, the Indians are doing it now in Sledgegate. Just play cricket people.
The Australians are the world champions but they are not the most sporting of the lot. There is a little word called 'humility' that seems missing from the Aussie cricketing rule book. The West Indians of the 70's were highly competitive but never behaved like the Australians. And apart from humility, the manner in which Ponting himself appealed, albeit unfavourably, to a catch he took at short mid-off, knowing fully well that he grounded the ball is nothing short of cheating. No body condones racism or sledging, but fair play must remain the mantra on the field. The Aussies don't feel the need to do that. Its sad, how about leading by example. Is this the example Ponting and his men want to set for the next generation of Australian cricket?
Anthony,as u said none heard Australians sledging,who heard Bhajji?If umpires and Tendulkar,who were close to him can't listen,how come others?
if 4 of them can testify against Bhajji,we all can testify against Australian team.
Bad umpiring decisions,sledging and wrong accusations...u think of the mental trauma players on field will face?then if we go by he rules,how come good-behaved players win?
Cricket is not any more a gentleman's game.Now it should be played Australian way.and we are just starting hat era.
The Indians are sore losers. Remember Gavaskar in 1981? He was given out lbw and then walked off the field with his batting partner!!! What a joke, stop crying into your milk. you were outplayed, you thought you would come to Australia and win the series, but you weren't good enough. It's as simple as that.
Nick Bryant can be as petulent as he likes in his attempt to bring the best batsman down a cog - it stinks of jealousy. Ponting ruthlessly puts your team to the sword every time you play, and therefore you want to put the knife in, wherever possible.
Indian team - wake up, and just play cricket. You didn't win. Bad luck. Maybe you'll win on the next tour? As for holding the series hostage if there's no change of umpire or change of racism verdict - how childish. Is Symonds really the bad guy here? Or is it the racist who slurred him? Give me a break. And let me remind you - Tendulkar was plumb lbw to Michael Clarke on 34 in the first innings - but given not out. How about India's sportsmanship? Funny how Sharma "forgot" his left batting glove when he had to come out and bat, eh? And did he walk, when he edged to slip? Or did he just stand there, as if he hadn't come near the ball?
Lets play cricket, this is ridiculous.
Yeah, there goes again the true Australian (as usual) in support for their team. Why do they always support their team rather than looking things neutrally. No one can deny the truth that the Australian team were really missing the true spirit of the game... Who said that the "Great Captain" Ricky Ponting and his team players like Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke played with true sportsmanship. Everyone who watched the match would really know the truth...
God only knows as to why they always first demoralize the teams touring their country. The last time it was Muthiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and this time the honour goes to the Indians. No one denies the fact that the Australian team is one among the Best teams, but the Best team should also be the best in all senses and also should do things by fair means.
Everyone knows what kind of tactics the Australian team always use to the teams touring their country. So these things are usual to them and hence they don't see any difference. All the best to their future damages.
I don't intend to add to this debate, since I think it has gone on long enough. Most likely, it will only be resolved by the effluxion of time.
My purpose is to welcome Mr Bryant back from the living dead, as it were, with his waistline exceeding his trouser capacity.
I wondered what had happened during the test match period. Now I find he's been watching it all the time but not doing the writing bit until a couple of days ago.
He could have helped me in my fence building activities - and still heard the match on the ABC.
Regards
Yeah, there goes again the true Australian (as usual) in support for their team. Why do they always support their team rather than looking things neutrally. No one can deny the truth that the Australian team were really missing the true spirit of the game... Who said that the "Great Captain" Ricky Ponting and his team players like Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke played with true sportsmanship. Everyone who watched the match would really know the truth...
God only knows as to why they always first demoralize the teams touring their country. The last time it was Muthiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka and this time the honour goes to the Indians. No one denies the fact that the Australian team is one among the Best teams, but the Best team should also be the best in all senses and also should do things by fair means.
Everyone knows what kind of tactics the Australian team always use to the teams touring their country. So these things are usual to them and hence they don't see any difference. All the best to their future damages.
The Australians are the world champions but they are not the most sporting of the lot. There is a little word called 'humility' that seems missing from the Aussie cricketing rule book. The West Indians of the 70's were highly competitive but never behaved like the Australians. And apart from humility, the manner in which Ponting himself appealed, albeit unfavourably, to a catch he took at short mid-off, knowing fully well that he grounded the ball is nothing short of cheating. No body condones racism or sledging, but fair play must remain the mantra on the field. The Aussies don't feel the need to do that. Its sad, how about leading by example. Is this the example Ponting and his men want to set for the next generation of Australian cricket?
I've never heard of 'monkey' being used as a racial slur. In fact, I would have thought it a fairly lightweight, childish insult. I guess it all depends on the context.
Why is that every bbc writer is intolerant of racism, but are ok with somebody abusing another personally i.e. sledging ?
How is one, less of a sin than the other except that the abusing /sledging is acceptable to some so called hard playing people than the other and giving fancy names like "mental disintegration" etc?
It's after all a game. It's ok if one wins or losses. What did both the teams gain after all this which has happened during and after the match? I think the spectators, the media and others took note of the umpiring errors and the behaviors by both teams. If Mr.Bucknor felt he was fair in his decision he would have come out strongly defending the same. I don't know what he was offered for giving those decisions.
The Indian team can leave it at that for the people to judge and move on. The Australian team has the capability to win the match without cheating. The Indian team has the capability to give a tough game for Aussies. More than cricket history Mr. Bucknor has created a bad reputation for himself in the cricket world and that is enough.
Australia and India have had good relations till now. This is not India -Pakistan match. All please move on.
Ponting is a streetfighter who in poorer circumstances might have become a hero of the common man. he has been given an insanely talented team backed by machinery that has already been precisely tuned. you could say his talent is wasted.
instead what gets exposed is his immense lack of perspective. in the post-match celebrations he described it as the greatest feeling he's had on a cricket field, blissfully unaware of the faultlines.
i don't question his sense of honesty or fairness. that, after all these years of travelling the world, he fails to see how his team's actions can be perceived, does raise the question.
the captaincy is (and should be) his until he retires, but you can't help thinking that Gilchrist and his intuitive sense of diplomacy might have been the better choice when the decision was first made.
Lux (Sydney)
The events at the SGC reflect poorly on almost all those involved.
Various Australians confirmed their reputations as excellent professionals but bad sportsmen, who get very thin-skinned when actually challenged.
Various Indians confirmed theirs as excellent players but poor exhibitionists.
Various officials confirmed suspicions of longevity, stress related weakness & in the case of a white mans word against that of a coloured man, potential residual racism itself.
Various media personnel have avoided the key issue because it would wreck cricket itself.
The issue is not racism but sportsmanship. Racism has no part in the preferred life of almost all of us, but some part in the actual life of many. The reason we follow sport, especially cricket, is that it is not our real lives, but an escape from it. We do not want racism to be any part of it, but we demand that sportsmanship is the heart of it.
Professionals are condoned (by their employers, sponsors, captains) to use all means possible to gain advantage, in the belief that the ends justifies the means. If it were otherwise, the game would not have sunk to the depths it has.
There is little economic justification for a professional player to act as a sportsman rather than a self-interested pragmatist.
Sure, there may the odd exception, but the fewer they are, the rarer they will become & the inference is obvious & bleak.
I think everyone is losing sight of the main points here.
Austrailia ARE the best team in the world, theres no denying that.
Umpires make mistakes, it is part of the game. (the symonds affair, fair enough, dravid, hard to swallow but ok)
But the 2 issues that need to be addressed are:
1) Why was the aussie teams word taken on the grounded catch when nobody knew if it had been caught or not, especially considering events from the previous days showed that the aussies were less than honest. (incidentally i dont know what replays the aussies saw, the ones i saw showed a clear grounding, either way, any doubt goes to the batsman).
2) Why was Harbhajan charged when there was no PROOF, nobody, including the stump mic and umpires, bar the "less than honest" aussies heard anything. What happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty.
As for Ponting and the aussies, they are only getting away with what the ICC let them get away with, which at the moment seems to be whatever they like...
I think everyone is losing sight of the main points here.
Austrailia ARE the best team in the world, theres no denying that.
Umpires make mistakes, it is part of the game. (the symonds affair, fair enough, dravid, hard to swallow but ok)
But the 2 issues that need to be addressed are:
1) Why was the aussie teams word taken on the grounded catch when nobody knew if it had been caught or not, especially considering events from the previous days showed that the aussies were less than honest. (incidentally i dont know what replays the aussies saw, the ones i saw showed a clear grounding, either way, any doubt goes to the batsman).
2) Why was Harbhajan charged when there was no PROOF, nobody, including the stump mic and umpires, bar the "less than honest" aussies heard anything. What happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty.
As for Ponting and the aussies, they are only getting away with what the ICC let them get away with, which at the moment seems to be whatever they like...
What amuses me is that after they required more than a few bad decisions to beat a side which 'cannot compete with Australia' (as mentioned above by someone), Australians still would not have managed it if it was not for sheer DISHONESTY, on more than one occassion- as is evident from you-tube videos of Ponting and Symonds' own admission. And in showing this DISHONESY, they were lead from the front by their captain, who should have guided them towards sanity and sportsmanship. So you had to suffer from Bodyline, is it? And your psychiatrist advised a bit of dishonesty to get even? Give us a break guys, we applauded you when you won all those matches fair and square. Was a record worth all this?
And amidst so much being said about Harbhajan, Mr Bryant failed to mention that he was punished without any proper corroborating evidence. And that, surely, is not a small thing- especially when Sachin gives his word for Harbhajan. Given their track record, I wouldn't put it past Ponting's 'Dishonests' to manufacture this incident to bury their own misdeeds.
Nick, look at the huge response to various opinion polls in Australian newspapers, inviting criticism of the Australian cricket team. Where has it all come from? A lot of Australians, for a long time, have not been happy with the culture of Australian cricket. In my view it all starts at the top - look at the comments this week from Cricket Australia, which, reading between the lines, effectively endorse ugly and aggressive behaviour, as long as Australia wins. This is why Ponting and his team don't understand the criticism they're copping. The administrators are not setting the right example.
Nick, look at the huge response to various opinion polls in Australian newspapers, inviting criticism of the Australian cricket team. Where has it all come from? A lot of Australians, for a long time, have not been happy with the culture of Australian cricket. The problems go all the way to the top – check the comments this week from Cricket Australia on the Sydney test, which, reading between the lines, effectively endorse ugly and aggressive behaviour, as long as Australia wins. This is why it’s simplistic and unfair to only blame Ponting and his team – we are dealing with a deeply entrenched cultural problem that has been around a long time.
I am flabbergasted by the willingness of some commentators to compromise themselves by attempting to tag the Australian cricket team with all manner of insults and epithets. Obviously a team so far in front of any other in the world brings out of the wood-work those who can't help but drag down the tall poppies of the world. Leader of the pack is now Peter Roebuck. His article calling for Ponting's sacking is the worst peice of writing he has ever produced. His arguments are so tenuous it's a wonder they don't snap back and render him unconcious. For example, he has the temerity to expect that readers will agree with him that Michael Clarke's state of mind is in obvious dissaray because of the way he, Clarke, batted, yet the way Clarke bowled is not mentioned! I'm afraid the only mind that is obviously in dissaray is that of Roebuck himself, who has fallen for the tactic used by the Indian side of deflecting attention away from their own dismal failures by attempting to blame the Australians with something as vague and subjective as their level of sportsmanship. India publicly predicted walloping the Australians and they have failed. Now the umpires and the opposition are at fault for the 'mistakes' they have made and not the Indians. The Australians set themselves an almost impossible goal in the face of much criticism and somehow managed to pull it off. They had every right to celebrate exhuberantly and if, in the process, they forgot to shake a hand or two, what's the big deal? Roebuck's harsh judgements of the seniour members of the Australian team has shown that he has a very short memory, is gullible and a poor judge of human character. Ponting et al are fine sportsmen who do much good in the world other than entertain the giggling masses on the cricket pitch. Their charity work, coaching work and positive role modelling have been too easily forgotten by those suckered by the poor losers from the sub continent. Roebuck should hang up his pen and enter a monastry where self flaggelation over a long time period might mitigate the wrong he has done of feeding the mindless with mind numbing bile.
I will qoute Mahatma Gandhi's words (Preeminent leader of Indian nationalism and prophet of nonviolence in the 20th century)
***"I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people."
-- Noone will dispute that Aussy team is the best cricket team currently.
But how other teams can see them as leader if they are teating other teams so badly that to at there home country?
** "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
-- Dont blame others start acting yourself. Here I want to appreciate Anil Kumbale's act when he dropped all charges against Hogg.
Why Ponting could not do that?
** "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean;
if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."
-- Even if some of Aussy cricketers are thinking themselves as "larger than life"..Dont generalise it
with whole Aussy team or all Austrelians..they are very good people and thats why Ausyy fans are laso taking it serously.(not acting as blind supporters)
Mands , USA
An intersting article. There's been a lot of rubbish on this topic. As a neutral, has anyone else noticed that most of the posts from the Indian supporters on this topic on various blogs sound like irrational rants from some enraged military dictator not getting his own way? There's some valid points in there somewhere if only they could be made logically but the way they are put across is so ridiculously biased that you can only laugh and dismiss them.
Thanks for very interesting article. btw. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It’s interesting to read ideas, and observations from someone else’s point of view… makes you think more.
So please keep up the great work. Greetings.
Thanks for very interesting article. btw. I really enjoyed reading all of your posts. It’s interesting to read ideas, and observations from someone else’s point of view… makes you think more.
So please keep up the great work. Greetings.