Warne on Ponting

[Jono]

The thing that I get out of all this is basically the only man saying Clarke was awesome is his best mate in the team ''Warne''.
If you have players as good as and nothing but team players from the past like Ponting, Hussey, Hayden, Symonds and Katich all saying the same thing well there must be something wrong.

I mean look how good the Australian ODI team have come together and are actually playing some great cricket under Bailey.

Ive always been of the opinion that Clarke although a great batsmen he is **** at leading aswell as being a team player.

What have Hayden and Symonds said that is anti-Clarke?

 

[Top_Cat]

Yeah, was under the impression that until he had to turn the tap off, Symonds and Clarke were besties and ****.

 

[Maximas]

Even if Clarke is a **** leader (it is my opinion that he's a genius on field but perhaps not so flash off it) all former players would do well to shut up about it until he retires or at least until the ashes are over

 

[Burgey]

This is bull**** mate. If you want anodine commentary from an old mates' club like Channel Nine and Sky are already, fine. But I quite like hearing people speak openly about players.You're about a step away from taking a BCCI aprroach where commentators get signed up provided they don't criticise the current mob.

 

[Maximas]

Yeah, but I'm not comfortable with former players who've played under Clarke speaking out against him, can't do much to help the unity of the team, you can be transparent without undermining the current team

 

[Burgey]

But he wasn't speaking out against him. He said he had reservations about him but by the time he became captain he thought he was the right bloke for the job and would do it well.

If Clarke (or anyone for that matter) can't cop that, he's got a touch of the Johnson's about him.

 

[GIMH]

Am I the only one who thinks Clarke far from deserves this genius tag?

 

[Burgey]

I think he's tactically very good tbh. Will often ring an out there bowling change and it will come off. I don't know if genius is th eright word, but I'd say he's very good. Plainly has some problems off the field but within the team though.

 

[uvelocity]

best thing is that the more **** is heaped on clarkeh, the better he goes. expect 1500.

 

[hendrix]

Am I the only one who thinks Clarke far from deserves this genius tag?

He's not bad, but the lauding of his declarations is ridiculous. And I'm not even talking about the last test in England - that was a desperation declaration and I didn't have a problem with it (the slowing down the game at the end, OTOH...). I'm talking about the times he's declared in the first innings on 400 rather than push for a big score. Really dumb ****.

 

[Spark]

The only time I can think of that is Hobart. And maybe that WI Test where he declared behind.

 

[Maximas]

Maybe not a genius, but he makes things happen, which is more than can be said about many captains. He certainly makes for an entertaining captain too, I love the way he captains tbh

 

[Spark]

He's definitely unusually good at reading the game as a batsman would. I think it was GF who pointed out that one of the main reasons we managed to contain England's batsmen so effectively - even Bell and KP never really got away from us with the obvious bizarre exception - was because Clarke had set his field with serious care, so shots would often be middled straight to a fieldsman.

 

[marc71178]

What have Hayden and Symonds said that is anti-Clarke?

And how is Symonds a "team player"?!

 

[Spikey]

Pushing the boundaries

 

[Son Of Coco]

I thought Ponting said wtte he had concerns about Clarke buying into the team ethos when he first started playing but by the time he took over the captaincy he was of the view Clarke was right as rain?

I really don't see what the problem is with that tbh, unless there's something else Ponting said which I haven't latched onto.

Yeah, it's a massive beat up. Am reading the book at the moment and there's nothing in his comments at all.

 

[Cabinet96]

Yeah, it's a massive beat up. Am reading the book at the moment and there's nothing in his comments at all.

There never is. The media will make a big deal out of it if Ponting said he didn't like a t-shirt Clarke once wore.

 

[Furball]

I thought Ponting said wtte he had concerns about Clarke buying into the team ethos when he first started playing but by the time he took over the captaincy he was of the view Clarke was right as rain?

I really don't see what the problem is with that tbh, unless there's something else Ponting said which I haven't latched onto.

What's more likely:

a) media latch onto and report the bit where Ponting says Clarke's a bit of a ****"
b) media headline is "Clarke's a good guy - Ponting".

Given that, making the comments on the eve of an Ashes series is a bit stupid is it not?

Yeah sure, Ponting's retired. But **** me, show a bit of respect for the blokes still wearing the baggy green, particularly the guy who inherited the poisoned chalice from you and who had to score a mountain of runs to make up for how crap you were in your last 2 years.

 

[Furball]

He's definitely unusually good at reading the game as a batsman would. I think it was GF who pointed out that one of the main reasons we managed to contain England's batsmen so effectively - even Bell and KP never really got away from us with the obvious bizarre exception - was because Clarke had set his field with serious care, so shots would often be middled straight to a fieldsman.

It was particularly noticable with Cook. The amount of times where he'd look bogged down then hit a really good shot straight to a fielder for 0 runs was beyond belief, when the shots should have disappeared to the boundary.

 

[Top_Cat]

What's more likely:

a) media latch onto and report the bit where Ponting says Clarke's a bit of a ****"
b) media headline is "Clarke's a good guy - Ponting".

Given that, making the comments on the eve of an Ashes series is a bit stupid is it not?

Yeah sure, Ponting's retired. But **** me, show a bit of respect for the blokes still wearing the baggy green, particularly the guy who inherited the poisoned chalice from you and who had to score a mountain of runs to make up for how crap you were in your last 2 years.

I dunno. What appears to have happened is that people have conflated Ponting talking about Clarke well before he was made captain with what he thinks of him now or, at least, upon assuming the captaincy. I doubt Ponting could have seen such a blatant misrepresentation of his words coming. The only way to avoid that, really, would be if noone says anything at all which reflects badly on Clarke at any time whilst he's captain and I would never agree that's the way to go.

Either way, an Aussie captain relinquishing the captaincy but staying on as a player was unheard of so if Ponting and Clarke had serious issues when Ponting gave it away, they'd most definitely have come to a head right there and then and you'd imagine Ponting would have lost out fairly quickly. That Ponting stayed on for a couple of years afterward says a lot about how they regard each other.

Agree with B00rge, Clarke can easily cop someone like Ponting bagging his behaviour from years ago, especially since, as far as criticism goes, it's pretty mild. Put another way, if the Aussie lose the Ashes and pin the blame on disunity caused by what Ponting and others have said, well, it's pretty thin.