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Originally Posted by silentstriker
Yes, Pontings test record leaves much to be desired doesn't it?
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Well said. He's just been voted on this site as best No.3 for he past 20 years and his record at no. 3 is an average of over 60. Yeah, we could really do without him, couldn't we?
His captaincy has come in for criticism at times and he's not as innovative as Taylor and doesn't have quite as great a team as Waugh did, but his record's still very good. Much of the criticism of his style last Northern Summer was, imo, misplaced. He made a big blunder sending England in at Edgbaston, but aside from that he was without his best fast bowler for 2 tests and the other pace men bowled pump for much of the series.
You've got to have the cattle - Taylor and Waugh were both helped by having McGrath & Warne, whilst I Chappell, the critic of all things about S Waugh and Ponting in terms of their captaincy styles, tends to forget he had Lillee and Thomson at their terrifying best. The point is you need to have bowlers capable of consistently taking 20 wickets or you won't win tests.