Ricky Ponting's XI to play Australia

[G.I.Joe]

woah, Deja Vu

 

[Somerset]

Check the Scorecard Draft Inside joke.

Haha. Although one would raise the question when Vaas, Laxman and Harbhajan played together with Ponting in the same scorecard...

 

[G.I.Joe]

 

[kingkallis]

Ponting could not pick Vaas, Laxman or Harbhajan because they were part of the scorecards he was given for his turn.

 

[aussie]

If this team played the best aussie xi of punter's time then it would produce a cracking game. (i am trying to not remember the world xi vs australia "test" match)

best of australia post 1995

hayden
langer
ponting
martyn
hussey
s.waugh (c)
gilchrist (wk)
warne
lee
gillespie
mcgrath

Would make a few changes.

- Taylor instead of Langer. Taylor would be skipper

- M Waugh instead of Hussey. M Waugh would bat @#4 & Martyn @ # 6.

- Possibly even Kasprowicz over Lee also (although i dont mind Lee especially at his test best beween 2005-2008)

- Watson 12th man

 

[Prince EWS]

Punter would make a good selector, I feel ... Good choices and solid reasoning. He has kept it simple and straightforward.. gr8 work.

Yeah, I agree. After reading that article I really do hope he becomes a selector post-retirement.

 

[aussie]

Yeah, I agree. After reading that article I really do hope he becomes a selector post-retirement.

Does Ponting as captain right now have any serious input in the selection process of AUS touring squads & playing XIs?.

I ask this because since 06/07, given the some of the awful selections that have been made especially in the test squad/side. If Ponting has had serious input in those decisions as the selections - him becoming a selector is a very nervy proposition.

 

[Prince EWS]

Does Ponting as captain right now have any serious input in the selection process of AUS touring squads & playing XIs?.

I ask this because since 06/07, given the some of the awful selections that have been made especially in the test squad/side. If Ponting has had serious input in those decisions as the selections - him becoming a selector is a very nervy proposition.

I don't think he has much of a say on the initial squad, but I think he has some input on the final eleven. Which admittedly is a worry, yes.

 

[akilana]

I don't understand why he went for Polly over Donald but liked his explanations for every player included. Seems like a nice bloke.

 

[tooextracool]

Yeah bit surprised he went for Pollock given his record against Australia tbh. Seems a pretty decent side otherwise though.

 

[Spark]

Ponting says that apparently he's more of a "consultant" than a selector for the final XI.

 

[Debris]

Ponting says that apparently he's more of a "consultant" than a selector for the final XI.

This is how it has traditionally worked in Australia. In theory, it is so there are no political tension in the side where one player can decide another's future. In practice, I imagine his wishes carry a lot of weight.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Posts deleted; thread was being taken down a track that wasn't going to be constructive in the slightest.

 

[silentstriker]

Dissapointingly free of controversy. Even if I disagree (and I don't, except maybe including Donald or Walsh over Pollock), I can't really fault any of his choices, or any of his reasoning. It's a very solid XI.

 

[aussie]

I don't think he has much of a say on the initial squad, but I think he has some input on the final eleven. Which admittedly is a worry, yes.

Yea. Would prefer to see Mark Taylor as selector.

 

[Athlai]

Am a little surprised he didn't chuck Bond at the expense of Ambrose or Wasim since they only played 10 odd matches in 2000s and I always thought he rated Bond very highly.

 

[Avada Kedavra]

Ponting pretty much admits that it's hard to consider only performances of the decade w/o accounting for the rest of their careers too.Fair enough I reckon.Only change I would probably make is another pure batsman in Flintoff's place.The side's got Kallis who is definitely a good enough 5th bowler.

1.Smith
2.Sehwag
3.Kallis
4.Tendu
5.Lara
6.Dravid
7.Sanga
8.Pollock
9.Wasim
10.Murali
11.Ambrose

 

[andyc]

Reckon Pollock has to be there to shore up the batting tbh; with Flintoff in the team and four bowlers, you'd have a pretty long tail, even with Wasim there as well. Hell of a team though.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Couple of the more interesting grabs from the article.

Smith

Initially, we thought he had a weakness on or outside off stump, but he's developed his offside game significantly in the past couple of years.

Remember Lee gave him a torrid time when he first came over as captain, and he was continually caught driving. No doubt that they tried the same tactic when he returned in 2008/09, but we all saw how well he did.

Flintoff

In recent Ashes Tests in England, the crowd was invariably more involved if he was playing -- the difference between the vibe at the Headingley Test in 2009, when he was out injured, and the other Tests of the series was remarkable.

Murali

Knowing that an off-spinner can turn the ball "the other way", away from the outside edge of my bat, means I can't use my feet against him in the way I would against a normal offie. Thus, if I don't get right to the pitch of the ball, then it might spin away from me and I'm gone. Murali has only got me out stumped once in Test matches -- at the Gabba a couple of years ago -- but that's more a reflection of the way I have to play him, the way he's pinned me to the crease, rather than evidence that I've been able to handle him effectively.

Reckon this is the most interesting little tid-bit in the article, talking about his methodology of playing Murali. Really, he's saying that he didn't get to play him how he would have really liked and had to change his game, so to have done as well as he has against him says a fair bit.

 

[L Trumper]

He really nailed it in bowling department. Ambrose, Akram, Pollock, Flintoff, Murali almost covered all the varieties right there and to think kallis is an extra bowling option!!!! Almost all the bowlers are very hard to score..
Although batting look a little thin, they got solidity with likes of sanga, kallis, sachin and fire power with lara, sehwag, smith.. Flintoff,Akram,Pollock are no mugs with bat either. Even ambrose and murali can bat. All in all this team will give punter's team a run for money.