Ricky Replies
When Ricky Ponting hooked his fourth delivery of the day and realised it was sailing down the throat of young Pakistan Mohammad Aamer, his thoughts were that he was in for a long day in the change rooms, with not much to do and what paper he was going to read. But yesterday his luck had turned and Aamer dropped the skied catch.
The dropped catch was what Ponting needed to get some luck going his way, as he took the opportunity to turn his form and to reply to the suggestions from the media and ex-cricketers that he should retire or should bat down the order to prolong his career.
Ponting’s test form this season on home soil has been ordinary, scoring a total of 353 runs at an average of 44 and a high score 137 not out which could be built on today. He was also just named Player of the Decade which is voted by a jury comprising former and current players and cricket writers.
At the close of play on day one Ponting finished the day on 137 not out and shared a partnership of 231 with Michael Clarke who is 111 not out. The partnership broke Australia’s fourth-wicket record against Pakistan, set by Greg Chappell and Graham Yallop in Faisalabad 30 years ago.
Mike Gatting better known in Australia as the Englishman who was at the strikers end when Shane Warne bowled the ball of the century (See the ball of the century here on you tube) has recently stated that Ponting should retire on his terms, that he risked playing one season to many and that he needed to seriously self-evaluate his exit from the game.
I would imagine that all Englishmen would like to see Rick Ponting retire and to me retiring on your own terms would not come from pressure from the media but with consultation with family, friends & team mates. He has speculated in this article that he would consider batting down the order if a better candidate for the number three spot was available.
Ricky Ponting
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