Cowan speaks out against scorecard critics – Cricket News Update
Australian opener http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RT-Ponting-c2377 against criticism regarding their supposedly below-par batting display, saying performance should not be judged by the numbers on a scorecard alone.
Both batsmen came under fire after failing to register sizeable scores during the ongoing Test series against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 secured a 3-wicket win in the first match, and the second Test ended in a draw, but Cowan and Ponting had little contribution
to make.
“… if you're in the Australian cricket team and you're not consistently getting big scores, of course you are going to be under pressure,” Cowan pointed out.
The 29-year-old opener, who made his Test debut against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 late last year, had been unable to rack up any substantial scores in the series so far - a 14 and 34 in the first Test was followed up with a 28 and 20 in the second. Ponting put forth similar
displays, made all the more significant by the fact that the 37-year-old is struggling to retain his spot on the Test team after being dropped from the ODI squad – a 4 and 14 in the first Test, followed by scores of 7 and 41 in the second did little to help
his case.
However, both bounced back during the third and final match, currently being played at the Windsor Park in Roseau, Dominica, where Cowan (55) and Ponting (57) came through for their team during the second innings, establishing an 87-run stand which enabled
their side to gain a 310 lead.
Following their recent display, Cowan has lashed out at critics, claiming that the scorecard does not reveal how hard batsmen have to struggle on what has been a difficult pitch.
“… if you're just judging people's form by looking at the scorecard, then you're not doing the game full justice. I'm satisfied to overcome that hurdle of the mid-20s, a nothing score, to get a 50 on what is a challenging wicket … 50 on a wicket like that
can be as good as a hundred,” he said.
Speaking about Ponting, he stated that the elder batsman had been batting “beautifully”, but his recent lapses had been used as ammunition by journalists back home.
“I feel sorry for the bloke because he has been batting beautifully and again it will give ammunition to some bloody journalist back home,” he said.
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