Ricky Ponting should retire now, says Michael Slater
Amid criticism for Australia’s humiliating Ashes defeat this year, pressure upon skipper Ricky Ponting to retire from Test cricket has been rising. Ponting’s former teammate, Michael Slater, has also joined an increasing number
of analysts, commentators and former cricketers to voice his opinion that the captain should consider ending his Test career after the final Ashes Test in Sydney.
“He’s only human, he’ll be forced to think about it,” said Slater. “This has been a big series and it hasn’t panned out. He’ll get a few days to himself after the Test. He’ll be able to talk to his family and the selectors and
take stock of what’s happened.”
"I haven't felt the vibe from Ricky that this is the end, but only he knows what he's really thinking."
Ponting has become the second Australian Test captain to lose three consecutive Ashes series after Billy Murdoch in 1890. The 36-year-old Tasmanian, who is Australia’s leading scorer in ODI and Test cricket, has thus far barely
maintained an average of 16 runs in this year’s Ashes.
The Australian media is abuzz with disbelief and outrage over the national cricket team’s innings defeat at the hands of England in the fourth Ashes Test held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. With Ponting struggling with the bat
and failing to dig out an escape route for his team, there have been suggestions that he may be stepping down from the captaincy in the very next Test, which start on January 3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Some reports have claimed that vice captain Michael
Clarke will be replacing Ponting – but given http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120’s own poor form in the Ashes so far, this is very unlikely.
However, it has also been suggested that Ponting will sit out the Sydney Test in order to avoid risking further aggravation of his finger injury, which he sustained during the third Ashes Test in Perth, so that his availability
for the 2011 Cricket World Cup could be ensured. Ponting left the MCG to have his injured finger x-rayed while England finished the Australians off in the fourth Test. The results of the x-rays are to determine whether the skipper will be playing in the next
match or not, but Ponting himself has expressed confidence that he will play in Sydney with the aim of restoring some vestige of Australia’s pride.
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