Michael Vaughan: Ricky Ponting Walking a Thin Line
In another pre-Ashes war of words, the former English captain Michael Vaughan has lashed out at the Australian captain Ricky Ponting in an effort to put pressure on the Aussie skipper.
Vaughan says that it is no secret that if Ponting fails to grab the Ashes this year he will probably be superseded by a new captain, ending his career well before the 50-over cricket World Cup.
According to Michael Vaughan, right now Ponting is a struggling captain and it is only a matter of time before someone decides to replace him for good if he fails to halt Australia’s losing streak.
The Ashes has always been a make or break series for English and Australian captains. Ponting has failed to win the Ashes twice in England, and it was only due to world class players in the Australian side that they whitewashed the series 5-0 the last time England were in Australia.
Vaughan said that Ponting had a better team to manage back in 2006-07 during the Ashes where the Aussies beat the English, but now he has a team that is almost back in the ranks of normal cricket teams.
This is probably the biggest challenge of Ponting’s captaincy. He has to show character and lead his young team against a formidable English side. What happens now rests purely on Ricky’s shoulders. If he keeps his nerve, the team will win, but if he fails to absorb the pressure of the Ashes, his side will surely be doomed.
For Michael Vaughan it is very simple. In his eyes Ponting is walking on a thin line, he needs to recapture the urns, otherwise his reign will surely come to an abrupt end.
Vaughan was pleasingly amused after Australia lost to Sri Lanka in the First One Day International (ODI) match at Melbourne, by just one wicket. Vaughan wrote on twitter regarding Australia’s defeat at the hands of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758, “Another knock of confidence, lots of people seem to be taking great pleasure from the fact Australia keep losing..long may it continue.”
Vaughan is confident that even though Ponting has a perfect record playing in Australia, he still will be tested by the English this year. Ricky Ponting lacks quality bowlers like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath in the upcoming Ashes and when a team lacks quality bowlers it puts a lot more pressure on the batsmen to score more runs. Vaughan said. “He doesn’t have the X-factor bowlers who can change games. That puts your batsmen under a lot more pressure because they know that you have to get lots more runs to give your bowlers something to bowl at. If they’d have got 300 a few years ago, they knew that Warne and McGrath would get them back in the game, but now they need 400 plus to really put England under pressure.”
This latest onslaught from Michael Vaughan’s end will definitely put another crack in the already tattered confidence of the Aussies. On the other hand, every time the Aussies lose the English grow more confident. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 have got just two more ODIs against the Sri Lankans to put their house in order and jump back to the winning bandwagon, or else it will be too late for them to recapture the Ashes this time.
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