"Australia's assistant coach, Justin Langer, has described Ricky Ponting as "an incredibly important part" of the Test side, despite his recent lack of runs. Langer warned against widespread changes to the team after the humiliation of being dismissed for 47 in Cape Town on Thursday, although he conceded it was not clear whether the team had hit bottom yet".
47 all out - it's not rock bottom ? That means we have something worse in store ?
"Langer said. "Some might argue we've got nothing to lose and anything could be better. Well, maybe, but someone like Ricky Ponting has not only got 12,500 Test runs but his influence in the team is unbelievable. He's a really tough case. That's why he's working hard. At the moment, in my opinion it's really important Ricky Ponting is in this Australian cricket team."
Despite not making any runs ?
"The reality is, we've seen over the last 12 months or a little bit longer, that our cycle has changed; I don't know if we've reached the bottom of it yet. I haven't seen it in my career."
This is a coach of the Australian cricket team talking. There may be worse to come !!
"Langer said it was hard to understand what had caused Australia's collapse on the second day at Newlands, but he described "game awareness" as a key area the squad had to work on."
And a coaches role is what precisely ?
My thesis is that the Australia team is refusing to face reality.
I rest my case