The Ashes vs Punter

The one reason I hadn’t published this was the Lord’s test. Something told me few days ago about the end of Australian dominance at the Lord’s for 75 years and finally today it happened. The story of one of the greatest players Australia – and maybe, the world has seen. Ricky Thomas Ponting – Australia’s captain courageous, Punterwinner of two World Cups, owner of 38 Test centuries and yes, one of the most successful skippers in the game but this story of a boy who never grew up. This is also a story of a player who probably ranks third in the history of modern cricket.

The great Roman Philosopher Seneca had said: “There is no great genius without some touch of madness.” When a player has scored 11,153 runs in Test cricket, with 11,523 in the shorter version to match, you can’t help but marvel at the abundance of talent at his disposal. We still can’t help but feel embarrassed when you look at his behavior, on and off the field. After all, we are talking about the man who’s leading the 'No. 1' team in the world.

Last Sunday, England pulled off one of the greatest escapes in the longer version of the game. With just one wicket between the Kangaroos and a 1-0 lead in the Ashes, England’s 10th wicket pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar disillusioned the mighty Aussie attack for more than 11.3 overs to do the unimaginable at Cardiff. Earlier, the Australians were frustrated by Paul Collingwood’s marathon 245-ball 74.

After the game ended, we were reminded that modesty is surely not our man’s best acquaintance. But couldn’t we see that coming didn’t we? Ricky had to say after the game: “They can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game. It's up to them to do what they want to do.” Obviously, the great man was troubled by the ‘gamesmanship’ shown by the English. But then, look who’s talking! He speaks of playing by the RULES- is this his rules or the rules of the game!! The masters of sledging want to teach their opponents a thing or two about sporting spirit.

His take on England’s retaliation : “I'm not sure if they look at it like a win, they're not 1-0 up, and they've been outplayed for four days... They'll have more soul-searching and selection issues than we will." Today we can see who is soul searching and 1-0 up in the series. Glenn McGrath , Gilly and Shane Warne are missed dearly.

But really, haven’t we found the Tasmanian with his foot in the mouth once too often to let this one pass? A few days back, Sunil Gavaskar celebrated his 60th birthday. As accolades and wishes poured in, one reflected what cricket’s bad boy had to say about this Indian genius a few months ago. After one of the many escapades on the field by the Aussies, Gavaskar made the mistake of saying things as they are. Gavaskar wrote that Australia had been an “awesome" team over the last decade but are "awful in the way they have sometimes behaved on the field". Thanks to Ponting, Andrew Symonds and company.

Ponting’s snap: "I don't mind if 'Mr Perfect' comes out and goes on about our team. I know we are all not perfect. We are not going to keep everyone happy 100 per cent of the time. Gavaskar would do well to look at his own team whose development programme he has been part of at various levels. I know who I would rather be going to watch. Have a look at how many Test matches they have won.” Great praise from someone who’s the Little Master’s junior by 24 years. We all know about things that Gavaskar achieved for India when Mr Ponting was in his mother’s womb and then diapers.

Ponting’s love affair with India is a long one. It probably started when Harbhajan Singh bamboozled him in Sharjah in 1998. Never been comfortable against the Indian spinner since then, spitefulness has been the Aussie’s greatest amusement. Two years ago, when India lifted the T20 World Cup, Ponting, clearly not pleased, attributed it to luck. “Teams that are outclassed in five-day matches and even 50-over games are much more competitive in Twenty20. India offers a good example of this. The shorter the format of the game, the more dangerous they become… Some of their batsmen, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni, are classic examples, can hurt you more in shorter games." Check your facts, Mr Punter. Not for nothing is the world afraid of the Indian duo. The willow speaks of their achievements and not the players.

For the record, if we go back to the T20 world cup match that Ponting was talking about. Luck? Australia managed to pick up only five Indian wickets; is it that the luck he’s talking about? Or is he talking about the 70 off 38 balls that Yuvraj scored? Or the five sixes and five boundaries that Yuvi hit in the semi-final clash is the luck he’s talking about? India was lucky first time, then it was Pakistan. Pity, lady luck never smiles at Australia.

Obviously, the reasoning is simple. When Australia wins, it’s all fair and square. Just because they are the No 1 team. When India do, it’s called luck. Lucky for England that they managed a well-fought draw on Sunday and a hard fought victory today. Sporting spirit? With two wickets away from victory, Ponting, standing close-in, claimed a bat-pad catch, when the ball was nowhere near the bat. Maybe, it was Collingwood’s lucky day, no? Skipper Andrew Strauss shouldn’t mind much though, he knows all about Mr Ponting.

Anyway, no one's going to forget in a hurry the compliment the great Anil Kumble gave to Ponting & Co after the last series Down Under: "Only one team played with the spirit of the game." Relax Ricky; the world knows who he was referring to. And to support the cause, we have Steve Bucknor.

Meanwhile, though the Ashes score line still reads ONE-NIL, England was a distinctively superlative team for much of the Lord’s test match. And that’s what matters, mate !! August 24^th is a long way to go!!




Disclaimer: This blog post is not intended to draw rude comments or to show what's supposedly a characteristic of this blog - put down "popular figures" just for the heck of it. But you're welcome to reject this disclaimer. In addition, my thoughts and opinions change from time to time…I consider this a necessary consequence of having an open mind. This weblog is intended to provide a semi-permanent point in time snapshot and manifestation of the various memes running around my brain, and as such any thoughts and opinions expressed within out-of-date posts may not the same, nor even similar, to those I may hold today.





PS : Just in case. If I say something stupid in the future, it’s better to be able to point out that the stupidity is mine, and mine alone. My stupidity! You can’t have it! :)