****Unofficial**** Ponting's Legacy Thread

[benchmark00]

I'm not saying you should lose. I believe you should play to your best, but more than that, you should enjoy it. The joy of playing cricket has to be your main reason for playing the sport, not winning.

I'm preeeettttttyyy sure that if you ask any member of that great Australian time they'll say they had the best time of their life playing in it. Just a hunch.

 

[silentstriker]

I'm not saying you should lose. I believe you should play to your best, but more than that, you should enjoy it. The joy of playing cricket has to be your main reason for playing the sport, not winning.

How can you say Ponting didn't enjoy playing the game? That's ludicrous. It's hard to succeed at the top level if you don't really love playing the game. Just because Rahul Dravid is less flamboyant than Virender Sehwag, that doesn't mean he loves playing the game any less.

 

[cnerd123]

I'm preeeettttttyyy sure that if you ask any member of that great Australian time they'll say they had the best time of their life playing in it. Just a hunch.

Definitely didn't look like it on the field.

Looked liked they enjoyed the winning and success more than the actual process of playing cricket. Which, personally, i don't like.

It was reflected in the way they played as well. So many players who weren't extravagant, flashy, creative, but instead who were skilful, highly drilled, mentally tough, physically fit and determined to win.

They almost always had a scowl on their face, legitimised sledging as a valid tactic.

It was similar to the great West Indies side of the past - and even those guys have said that they were playing to prove a point to the world.

Ofcourse, i could be wrong, what do i know about what goes on in their minds. I can only go off what i've seen on the field. And I didn't like it.

Warne, Waugh and Marty were my favourite players of that generation. And Lehman. They played with smiles on their faces and enjoyed their cricket, weren't as ruthless or determined to win as the others.

 

[Arachnodouche]

You think Warne would've been the legend he is if he wasn't absolutely desperate to win every single time he stepped on a cricket field?

 

[benchmark00]

Definitely didn't look like it on the field.

Looked liked they enjoyed the winning and success more than the actual process of playing cricket. Which, personally, i don't like.

It was reflected in the way they played as well. So many players who weren't extravagant, flashy, creative, but instead who were skilful, highly drilled, mentally tough, physically fit and determined to win.

They almost always had a scowl on their face, legitimised sledging as a valid tactic.

It was similar to the great West Indies side of the past - and even those guys have said that they were playing to prove a point to the world.

Ofcourse, i could be wrong, what do i know about what goes on in their minds. I can only go off what i've seen on the field. And I didn't like it.

Warne, Waugh and Marty were my favourite players of that generation. And Lehman. They played with smiles on their faces and enjoyed their cricket, weren't as ruthless or determined to win as the others.

Is this a serious post? Like, really?

I'm guessing you mean Mark Waugh, not Steve?

 

[Spark]

Haha that's bizarre. Shane Warne was one of the most ruthless cricketers of his generation.

 

[Arachnodouche]

And *****, we in India would LOVE to have some of the ruthlessness the Australians displayed at times...not just through mannerisms but by actually backing it up with performance as well. Now this doesn't mean imitating Ponting and asking a bowler to **** off back and bowl after being hit by a bouncer, that's just being a ****, but every team could do with a bit of the killer mindset those guys had in their pomp.

 

[cnerd123]

How can you say Ponting didn't enjoy playing the game? That's ludicrous. It's hard to succeed at the top level if you don't really love playing the game. Just because Rahul Dravid is less flamboyant than Virender Sehwag, that doesn't mean he loves playing the game any less.

You would be surprised. A lot of successful people thrive on the success more than they do on the thing that brings them the success.

Not saying that Ponting didnt enjoy his cricket btw. Just saying you could never see it on the field. You saw how much they enjoyed winning, not how much they enjoyed, say, a good deul with a batsman/bowler of the other team, or a good shot. Thats what i didnt like.

 

[benchmark00]

You would be surprised. A lot of successful people thrive on the success more than they do on the thing that brings them the success.

Not saying that Ponting didnt enjoy his cricket btw. Just saying you could never see it on the field. You saw how much they enjoyed winning, not how much they enjoyed, say, a good deul with a batsman/bowler of the other team, or a good shot. Thats what i didnt like.

Can you please tell me the batsmen who show that they're enjoying a 'good deul with a bowler'? I mean come on man. This can't be real life.

 

[cnerd123]

Is this a serious post? Like, really?

I'm guessing you mean Mark Waugh, not Steve?

Yes Mark, not Steve.

Warne liked beating the batsmen when he bowled. I loved that. But you could feel he enjoyed his cricket. You could feel it when he bowled or when he captained. I got that vibe off him. Didnt get it off Ponting. Couldn't explain it to you if i wanted to.

 

[Johnners]

Here's some footage of Ponting not enjoying cricket ftr

RICKY PONTING - GREAT ALL ROUNDER- so many wickets - YouTube

 

[benchmark00]

Here's some footage of Ponting not enjoying cricket ftr

RICKY PONTING - GREAT ALL ROUNDER- so many wickets - YouTube

Nah, only smiling because he has had success. If you find footage of him laughing and high fiving when he gets hit for six then you might have a point.

 

[cnerd123]

Nah, only smiling because he has had success. If you find footage of him laughing and high fiving when he gets hit for six then you might have a point.

Lol, I like how offended you are getting over someone having an opinion on the internet.

Honest question now, winning is a big part of Aussie culture isn't it? Back when I was younger, me and my friends used to love playing cricket just for the sake of it being cricket. We like batting, bowling, fielding. And naturally, when playing, we tried our best to win. But we always hated that one kid who was out there getting angry at the bowlers for bowling a wide, or who put all the fielders on the offside when he came on the bowl and then proceeded to bowl 2 feet outside off. The guy who didn't say 'nice shot' when the opposing batsman hit it well, or who got mad and angry and sulked when his team was losing.

I'm guessing kids like that are common in Aus? The prevailing mentality is probably 'Play to win or don't play at all?'

Because I used to play for fun. Win or lose was irrelevant. It was about challenging yourself, doing your best, and appreciating when others did well as well. Winning was secondary to the process of playing good cricket (or football even).

 

[Spark]

I really think you don't get how top level cricket works.

 

[cnerd123]

I really think you don't get how top level cricket works.

Australia were the first team to play cricket hard though. Under Border and Waugh they become the toughest, nastiest, give no inch team.

You could say Bradman's Invincibles did that too.

Before that, cricketers still wanted to win really bad, but it wasn't so intense. You had batsmen who were elegant and all class but didn't value their wicket so much, you had bowlers will all the tricks in the book but no ruthlessness and discipline, you had lazy fielders, you had players who only harnessed all their talent in absolute pressure situations and couldn't really give a toss otherwise. You had these characters who played the game like it was just a game.

But nowadays things have gotten far more professional. More money, more intensity, less space for ill disciplined players without that drive to be the best.

Not saying that playing to win is bad, FTR. Most of the joy as a cricket watcher comes from seeing your team do well. You naturally do want your players to be cutting edge, ruthless, disciplined, win at all costs types.

But I'll always have a soft spot for those who can treat Cricket like it is a game, even at the highest level.

And during my cricket watching experience (which really kicked off in the early 2000s fwiw), Ponting's Australia were the first side to show that ruthlessness and driven determination to win. And as a kid who was used to playing cricket (and sport) in one way, their way of playing did not appeal to me. And to this day, that is the legacy I associate with them.

Not saying that it's good or bad on an objective level. Just that I never enjoyed it.

 

[Spark]

Read up about how the great Windies teams played their cricket.

 

[cnerd123]

Yea. I mentioned them earlier, they were the same thing. They were motivated to prove a point to the world more than anything else, they say so themselves. It wasn't about the cricket, It was about sending a message. Don't really like that either, but you can't fault them for wanting to fight racism and colonialism. Makes their achievements more impressive than anything else really. Their goal of showing the world that Black people can be as good, if not better, than the White people is far easier to respect, for me, than a goal of simply winning everything and being the best in the world.

 

[benchmark00]

fmd there are some shocking arguments being put forward in CC aws.

How about bodyline ffs?? But Australia of the 90's/00's were the first to play it hard??

 

[cnerd123]

Oooh, forgot Bodyline. My bad, yea.

So are you going to keep picking on examples I've forgotten, or focus on this part instead:

And during my cricket watching experience (which really kicked off in the early 2000s), Ponting's Australia were the first side to show that ruthlessness and driven determination to win. And as a kid who was used to playing cricket (and sport) in one way, their way of playing did not appeal to me. And to this day, that is the legacy I associate with them.

Not saying that it's good or bad on an objective level. Just that I never enjoyed it.

 

[Spark]

The reason they "showed" that was because they were better, quite simply. Hard to be ruthless or look driven when you're being steamrollered.

I assume you didn't enjoy SA's cricket over the last three days of the series, either, given that it was textbook ruthless cricket.