Chappell brothers at odds over Ponting’s captaincy
Chappell brothers of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 cricket, Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell, are at odds when it comes to the leadership of Ricky Ponting. Whilst the former feels the captaincy role of Ricky Ponting is ‘hurting’ his team, the latter, who is
also a member of Cricket Australia’s selection panel, wants the 37-year-old to lead Aussies in the international arena for another couple of years.
Ian Chappell, in his scathing article published on a cricket website, has criticized Ponting’s field placements during recent matches adding that the constant changes in field placements ‘distract the bowlers from their task’.
"Johnson's epic resurgence should not camouflage the fact that Ponting's captaincy has started to hurt the Australian team," said the 67-year-old former Australian cricketer. "In what appears to be an attempt to prove the critics wrong,
Ponting has become impatient for success and his constant changes to the field placings only served to distract the bowlers from their task," he added.
Ponting’s captaincy tactics were questioned by his former teammate and the leg-spin prodigy Shane Warne during the Bangalore Test against India earlier in October. A tweet posted by Warne on the final day of the Test match read: "How the
h**l can hauritz bowl to this field?? Feeling for hauritz , terrible!! What are these tactics? Sorry Ricky but what are you doing." Though the issue was later resolved, it gave way to a lot of questions over the Australian captain’s leadership qualities.
Greg Chappell, on the other hand, perceives an able captain in Ponting and does not find anyone in the current Australian cricket team to replace him.
"If we are going to replace Ricky, we have got to make sure we have got someone that we are confident with and has the right frame of mind. Someone who can take over and do a good job," said Greg Chappell while talking to an Australian
sports channel. “There is nobody absolutely ready for it and I do not think there are too many other players too who I would like to put the pressure on," he added further.
Ian Chappell, who played 75 Tests and 16 One Day Internationals in his 15-year international career, proposed wicketkeeper batsman Brad Haddin as a nomination for the future Aussie captain, if the likely successor of Ponting, Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 fails to find
form in the ensuing matches against England.
Various other former Australian cricketers, including former Australian pacer Geoff Lawson, had also asked for Ponting’s removal from captaincy role earlier when the mighty Aussies lost a two-match Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 by 0-2. The
37-year-old http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Queensland-c834 batsman, who is struggling with the bat and has scored only one century in his last 35 innings, was also suggested by former England captain Mike Gatting to give away the captaincy role and focus on his own game.
Tags: