The time wasting accusation that he childishly levelled at England in the wake of yesterday's thrilling draw really does takes the cake. Ponting, no doubt internally enraged at his team's inability to force the victory that they should have, chose to call into question England's sportsmanship after crucial seconds were eaten up by the involvement of England's physio and 12th man.
They appeared on the pitch in the 102nd and 103rd overs, despite little indication that James Anderson and Monty Panesar had called upon their services. There was nothing illegal in England's behaviour, even if it is quite obvious that the intention was for a little stalling. Whether they were right to do it or not, Ponting, inevitably, chose to bring his grievances to light of the media, no doubt in the hope that the moral high ground would firmly be his.
"I'm not sure what the physio was doing out there. I didn't see anyone call
for the physio to come out. As far as I'm concerned, it was pretty ordinary,
really. But they can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the
rules and the spirit of the game. A few guys were questioning the umpires, a few
guys were questioning the 12th man, but it's not the 12th man's fault. Someone
from upstairs was sending him out there. That's where it needs to be taken up.
We had to get them off as quick as we could and get a couple more overs. I was
unhappy with it, but it lasted a couple of minutes, and we got them off the
ground. I'm sure others will be taking it up with the England hierarchy, as
they should."
This is the same Ponting that was earlier in the day trying to con the umpire into giving a catch off England hero Paul Collingwood. As an LBW appeal was rejected, Ponting went haring off like a petulant child in the direction of the umpire, claiming that the ball had taken the edge of Collingwood's bat and had been caught by one of his fielders. Correctly, and thankfully, the officials weren't interested.
Ponting has a chequered past when it comes to sportsmanship - it's hard to envisage him being called upon to deliver the MCC's annual Spirit of Cricket lecture as former team mate Adam Gilchrist did last month. His expletive laden outburst after being run out by sub fielder Gary Pratt during the 2005 Ashes is now famous. Ponting was throwing a considerable amount of toys out of the pram and the incident only enhanced his reputation as a sore loser.
For the Australian captain to critique the gamesmanship of an opposition side smacks of incredible hypocrisy. The colossal row in with the Indians in 2008 is a sorry chapter in Ponting's history. On an incredible final day in Sydney, controversy followed him around; he was castigated for raising his finger in the direction of the umpire, as if to give the batsman out, when Michael Clarke took a disputed catch off Sourav Ganguly. He was also slammed in several quarters for reporting to the match officials his take on the Harbhajan Singh/Andrew Symonds race row.
Yesterday's Cardiff incident has illuminated Ponting's ability to whinge when things don't go his own way. It's natural - when your team is on top of the world for so long and things start going wrong, there's bound to be some residing animosity. But Ponting's antics are beginning to make him look more and more foolish. It'll be a crying shame for fans of the game if he ends up being remembered for his lack of sportsmanship rather than his phenomenal batting.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a side note, there's been several striking similarities drawn between yesterday's match and famous drawn game at Old Trafford in 2005. And the matches are remarkably alike, especially in terms of great tension and entertainment. There were great individual innings played on both days; Ponting's 156 saved the game for Australia in '05 whereas Paul Collingwood's superb 74 was the glue with which England's batting was held together in Wales.
But, there is one significant difference. Ponting, in his post match interview, asserted that there would probably be some 'celebrating and jumping up and down' in the England dressing room. Perhaps, he was remembering the euphoric nature of Australia's celebrations back in Manchester.
Yet, upon Anderson blocking the last ball of the game, the England balcony offered a round of generous, standing applause for the two batsman and the whole team wore the look of extreme relief. There was precious little fist-pumping or back slapping - England realised that they had been extremely lucky to escape the game and that to have wildly celebrated would have been a tad farcical.
England may not be on a par with the Australian's when it comes playing the game but in the humility stakes, they might just have the edge. If only that meant a series victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment