Ricky Ponting running out of options as Australia look back to Adelaide debacle
Australian captain Ricky Ponting has found himself in a dissimilar situation after getting debilitated by the English team in the recently concluded Adelaide Test. Ponting is on the verge of losing cricket’s most coveted prize on his home soil. Besides,
his captaincy and his form with the bat are also under question. Ponting and Australia are running out of options as they have to grind two wins in the last three Tests in order to regain the Ashes. Keeping in account http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s recent form, this looks highly
improbable.
Ponting already holds the stigma of losing two Ashes and if he fails once again, selectors and supporters will go for his head. The Australian Ashes campaign has been hampered by a number of issues ranging from selection problems, injuries and poor batting
and bowling. Additionally, Ponting’s poor run with the bat seems perennial. Ponting is considered an expert in handling pressure situations but his recent performance is far from his best. He has scored nominal 70 runs in his last four innings with a duck
and 9 in the last two respectively.
However, Ponting showed great sportsmanship as he restrained from criticizing his team-mates and instead took the blame on himself. He said, “Don't worry about winning the games; I've got to make some runs. There's a great challenge for me to score runs
but there's a great challenge for me to captain the side well in Perth and give the guys the best chance to get our way back into the series. We have to win two games, and we have to play good cricket to win a single game.”
The reason behind England’s domination lies in the fact that Australian players failed to live up to the expectations. They were ahead in the first Test and could have won the match if they were able to hold to the initiative. But Aussie exhibited complacency
and some sloppy play for which eventually they had to pay the price. Nonetheless, 36-year-old Ponting is hopeful for his team’s chance in the series. He said, “We've been doing a lot of talking about things, about what we want to do and how to change and rectify
things, but our actions have been what has let us down so far. Skills at different times have let us down and we understand that.”
Australian batsmen were the main culprits in the second Test as they lost 3 wickets for two runs in the opening session of the first day before being dismissed for 245. Similarly, they could have easily drawn the Test but they gifted 6 wickets on the last
day to give visitors the lead. Australia came into this series with certain amount of cockiness as they believed that they were more than a match for the Strauss-led English side despite losing last three matches before the series.
On the other hand, England gave a thorough, professional and comprehensive performance. Commenting on it, Ponting said, “Probably not. I thought the way everything was heading for us up there, it looked like we were playing some good cricket and we were
on the right track. We had a group of players together skill-wise who were going to be good enough to win the series.”
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757 became the first team to beat Australia on their home track since 1992 by winning the series two years ago. Now the impregnable fortress of Australian cricket is under fire from English artillery. Adelaide debacle was the first blow and it seems
that England will be able to capture the citadel for the first time in more than 20 years. “It probably looks as if we are going to have to be at our absolute best if we are going to work our way back into the series,” Ponting said. “The challenges are there,
the pressure is on the players just to make sure we give it our best shot for the next three weeks.”
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