Australia to face Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI without Ricky Ponting; Michael Clarke stand-in captain
Australian captain Ricky Ponting has decided to miss the third One-Day International against Sri Lanka on the 7th of November in Brisbane, leaving Michael Clarke as the stand-in captain.
With the series already lost to Sri Lanka, the Aussie captain Ricky Ponting sees no point in playing the 3rd match, which practically holds no meaning in the series now. Ponting is more concerned about his form and has decided to take part in the Sheffield Shield, playing for his Tasmanian side in order to take part in competitive cricket as much as possible before the beginning of the Ashes.
The Australian selection panel realizes the fact that Ponting is going to be the key player against England in this year’s Ashes, and they want him to get the feel of tough cricket so that once the Ashes commences, Ponting will be at the top of his game.
These efforts come in the wake of Australia’s miserable home series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in which the Aussies lost both the first and second One-Day matches of the three-match series. The third match does hold some importance for the Australians as they are on a seven straight loss streak which they need to stop in this match.
Talking about the defeat in the second match, Ponting admitted that the team was struggling in all the departments but he remained upbeat about the prospects of the team in the last One-Day match. Ponting believes that the Australian side will surely rise in the third and the last match of the series, even though he isn’t going to take part in it.
Ponting brushed off the excuse of losing the series to Sri Lanka due to the extra hype of the Ashes going around; he said that it was an important series just before the Ashes and the Australians would have definitely preferred to win it before going into the Ashes.
Ponting realizes that it’s about time Australia start playing the brand of cricket they know and are capable of, which will ultimately lead to victories again.
But for now it’s up to Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 doesn’t lose eight matches in a row for the first time in their history. Not since 1996 have Australia lost even lost seven matches in a row. This is perhaps Michaels Clarke’s test of captaincy as well; he has to prove that he can perform as a captain and a player when the team is under tremendous pressure.
This match holds importance for the Australians for the sake of their lost pride, and Michael Clarke will definitely not want his team to make a record of eight straight losses under his captaincy. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be looking to whitewash the series for the first time in Australia against the home side.
The Australians were clearly struggling on the field in the second One-Day International, where they missed some clean chances to get the opponents out. This is a big change in the Aussies, because they have been the world’s best fielding side for more than a decade and this sudden decline in the standard of their fielding must be ringing alarm bells within the team and the Australian cricket management.
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