Ricky Ponting falls on his sword, but leaves with his head held high

 
As we wrote last week, we’ve given Ricky Ponting plenty of stick at The Reverse Sweep over the last few months.

But now that he has resigned as captain of Australia, it is time to pay tribute to the best Australian batsman since Bradman.

He wasn’t the best or most tactically astute captain that Australia has ever had.

And some of his antics – not least the prolonged argument with the umpires in what turned out to be his last Boxing Day Test as captain – demeaned his status as a truly great player.

But it is hard to argue with his record as skipper. He won 48 Tests out of 77 and 163 out of 227 ODIs and led his side to two successive World Cup triumphs.

He had to contend with the wholesale retirement of the likes of Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Langer and Hayden and make do with players that were barely fit to tie the boot laces of their illustrious predecessors.

Like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke, Ponting managed to stem the inevitable tide for longer than expected – the Test series win in South Africa being a notable achievement.

But in the end, the flood waters proved too much. Defeats became commonplace and in the end Ponting’s own form suffered – he was barely a shadow of his former self in the recent Ashes series.

And whilst he will partly be remembered for losing three Ashes series as captain, history should also remember him statistically at least as Australia’s most successful captain and its greatest batsman for over half a century.

Ponting wants to continue as a player, and if he can enjoy a similar Indian summer to his career as Sachin Tendulkar then the records of the Little Master could still be in his sight.

Whether the selectors will give him this opportunity – Australian captains rarely return to the ranks – is yet to be seen, but given the paucity of their batting reserves they would be foolish to cut Ponting adrift now.

So whether this is the end or the beginning of another chapter for Ponting awaits to be seen. But with Michael Clarke set to be the new captain, God help Australia.

Where next?

Ricky Ponting's "up yours" message to Cricket Australia

The real reason why Ricky Ponting smashed that television

Once upon a time in the court of King Ricky...

Is this Ricky Ponting's cataclysmically bad epitaph?

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Read all our 2011 World Cup posts here

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Comments

[MartDawg]

Australian captains rarely return to the ranks because they aren't needed. Not sure that is the case this time around.

Mixed feelings on this, I thoroughly dislike the man, but that made the contests all the more enthralling. Do I have the same antipathy towards Clarke? Not yet.

[The Reverse Sweep]

I actually quite admire Ponting - my jibes against are more due to the respect I have for him as one of the all-time great batsmen. He speaks his mind, is tough and uncomprimising and is the only leader of note in the current Australian side. History may prove me wrong, but Clarke does not appear to be much of a leader and if anything Australia are likely to go backwards rather than forwards under his stewardship. As a Pom, that is music to my ears!