Yorked!!! – By Chetan Narula.

Ponting’s Blunder.....

The first ashes test at the Gabba, Brisbane finished after it followed a script that I would say almost every cricket follower expected. It has set the tone for the rest of the series which in all probability will end up in an Australian win. But then strange things have happened in cricket and England’s ashes win last year was one of them.

If you for one second think that I am implying that England do have a chance in this series, then your thinking as of that particular one second is right. Why, why you may cry out, have I gone mad? Of course cricketing logic says that England are going home empty handed, after a seemingly possible 5-0 rout. But then I argue, that cricketing logic says that when you have the opposition on the mat you go after them. You squish them on the same mat and then bury them under it. Ricky Ponting did every thing except that.

Many Australian ex-cricketers have called Ponting a very friendly captain, somebody who has not been able to keep up the “Aussie captains’ legacy”. The list includes Steve Waugh and Allan border, themselves ex-captains and of course the ones opponent teams “feared” the most. Fear here doesn’t mean that you shiver and wet your pants, but here in cricketing terms it implies that these were the ferocious Australian captains who would use their near invincible teams to just maul the opposition. Session after session, the Australians would go after the opponent teams and yes, when they would have them on the mat, they would squish them and bury them under it.

Let us take a look at what exactly went wrong for Australia in a test match they won by more than 200 runs. First day of the test and Ponting’s bat did the talking again. Unless the bat of one Sachin Tendulkar starts talking soon too, we are looking at the player who may end up scoring the highest number of test centuries. Second day and the position is further fortified by Ponting and Hussey ,and later by Mcgrath’s fiery spell which had England reeling at 53/3 in reply to a huge total of 600 runs.

Day three and Mcgrath continues to terrorize the Poms and ends up with six wickets. England are shot out for a meager 157 and the Aussies are on top. But what happens after that is what you call a shoddy strategy. A decision that might have greater after effects than ever felt from any other such decision. Ponting elects to bat again and pile on the runs. Motive is to pressurize the English under a mountain of runs and give them two days to bat out. Near impossible you would say. Almost happened I say.

The reason why I say that England can save this series is because of that decision. Not following on gave them the time to regroup their batting and approach the second innings total with relaxation. It gave them time to spend at the crease and that has now gotten both Collingwood and Pieterson into form, who ground out fine 90 plus scores. Other batsmen got that important time in the middle but most importantly they were able to battle on and take the match into the last day. If you have not forgotten, this battling approach is what stung the Aussies last time around.

Why I join the those who call Ponting soft? Simply put was he afraid that England might do what India did in Calcutta. That match is fresh beyond belief in the Aussie memory. Or was he simply resting the bowlers. Whatever the reason may be, it is something previous captains might not have done. Questions have been raised of that decision and if the English batsmen now stick it up to the Australian bowlers from now on, one knows where to put the blame.

Ponting unknowingly may have woken a dormant volcano, one whose lava has already burnt him once last year.