Australia headed in the right direction, but Ricky Ponting's form a concern
Things finally moved in the right direction for Australia after they won the third Ashes Test match at Perth. The only question mark left is over Ricky Ponting’s form. Although the team won the match convincingly, the Australian captain would have liked
to contribute more with his batting.
Adding insult to injury, Ponting suffered a fracture while taking a catch in the Perth Test. He got out cheaply in both innings, but the result of the match might help him regain his form and confidence for the remainder of the series.
Ponting has only been able to score a single half century in the series so far, which came in the drawn first Test match. Apart from that his performances have been below par, and he himself has the fact that his performances have dipped a lot. Ponting has
scored just 83 runs in the three matches played so far at an average of 16.60, and the injury will now make it harder for him to improve his record in the series.
Former Australian opener Justin Langer, who also played under the captaincy of Ponting, said that the skipper has the mental toughness to come out of the bad patch he is currently going through. He even said that the injury might help him regain his form.
Talking to the media Langer said, “His injury might work in his favour. He has been trying so hard and this might help him relax and get ready for the test match. Rather than working too much and doing batting beforehand, this might be the breather he wanted.”
Ponting is seen as one of the few batsmen who could match the records of Sachin Tendulkar, who just scored his 50th Test century against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757. Ponting is currently 11 centuries adrift of Tendulkar. He has been criticised for his form and captaincy,
but Ponting is confident that he will comeback and make sure that he performs with the bat.
Before the start of the Perth Test, Ponting responded to his critics by claiming that the Australian team will bounce back, but added that his form with the bat is crucial for the team. He vowed to perform with the bat and said that his efforts would lift
the confidence of the team.
There has been a lot of talk about sacking Ponting as captain, but former players doubt whether any other player is ready to lead the Australian side. Michael Clarke is considered Ponting’s most likely successor, but he hasn’t been good with the bat at all,
and his form is also a concern for the team.
Ian Chappell said that if Ponting is unable to lead the side in the Melbourne Test, Clarke would take over as captain, but he doubts he will lead the side for a longer time period.
Talking to the media Chappell said, “I'm sure Clarke will get the job in Melbourne if Ricky can't play. But it's a different question if you're asking about permanent captaincy with Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120. That's where the area becomes really clouded because the
England bowlers have sorted him out a bit with some short-pitched stuff. The last thing you need to do is appoint a long-term captain when he's got a bit of a problem with short-pitched bowling.”
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 is headed to the right direction, but the team would definitely want to see their captain in form and back among the runs.
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