Ponting gets his timing right ?

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So at last one of Australia's greatest ever batsmen accepts what many have been saying , that his powers are diminishing and the time is right to finish.
Tomorrow the Perth Test against SA will be his 168th and last - equalling Steve Waugh's record.

It is probably good timimg : if Australia win , he leaves them back atop the ICC rankings. If they lose , they will have even more reason to look to the future.

Whatever the result , I hope he can go out with a personal performance befitting his fine career.

If there was a series which showed Ponting at his worst as a captain it was probably India in 2008. The decision to not pick a proper spinner and instead rely on a mix of Cameron White and Michael Clarke early in the series totally backfired, particularly when poor overrates left the spin twins bowling together at crucial moments.

But during that period there were also plenty of good results - away in SA as Mike says, and also they went unbeaten through the '09-'10 winter v WI and Pakistan.

The series defeats which took place, all against good sides, were pretty much inevitable when you lose Langer, Hayden, Ponting, the often forgotten Martyn, Symonds (just as he was coming good in Tests), Gilchrist, Warne, McGrath, Gillespie and Lee in such a short space of time. That was compounded by the fact that the 'B' team were of much the same age or only slightly younger: the likes of Hogg, MacGill, Hodge, Jaques, North, Kasprowicz etc. couldn't effectively step up as long term replacements.

I think Ricky got his timing right. He himself admitted that his best was past him and despite being good in the field, low scores certainly suggested his best batting was behind him. It was sad to see him go, still at 37 and being able to play at the top level is a testament to his ability.

Also as captain I think he has done well and much better than some give him credit for. I think having to rebuild a team from scratch when the likes of Langer, Warne, McGrath, Hayden and Gilchrist all went within a year of the Ashes whitewash. Also he then lost Lee. Yes some of his selections didn't pay off and some of his decisions in the field were bizarre, but the state of where team is now is much better than I expected after the great team he inherited had disbanded.

I do wonder if he regretted maybe going a series too soon as I would've backed him against a Sri Lanka side less seamer dominated than SA.

Still a great player

Pontings had a lot of trouble with spionners since Warne, hardly surprissing. He (and the other selectors) seem stuck in a flip flop between picking specialists he doesnt trust to do the job and guys like North who are more in the Samit Patel mould who he knows cant do the job but at least allow him to play 4 seamers.

Bad capatincy or just tough luck when you have to pick a turd form the sewer?

farewell to one of the legends of the game, and sad to see him go.

however IMO he should have gone two years ago.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:Pontings had a lot of trouble with spionners since Warne, hardly surprissing. He (and the other selectors) seem stuck in a flip flop between picking specialists he doesnt trust to do the job and guys like North who are more in the Samit Patel mould who he knows cant do the job but at least allow him to play 4 seamers.

Bad capatincy or just tough luck when you have to pick a turd form the sewer?

Patel is a bit of a floater in the team, time to flush him away?