Ricky Ponting voted Cricinfo 'Player of the decade'

baggy_blogger · 14th January 2010, 10:26 AM

After the talk over his form this summer, Ricky Ponting has risen to the occassion at his home ground, The Bellerive Oval, where it all began for Punter.
Currently on an unbeaten century Punter had a good start to his day in being voted as Cricinfo's 'Player Of The Decade' and then he was dropped on 0 playing a hook shot, which has been the talking point! Stubborn but instinctively bold!
Luck is sometimes a cricketers ideal partner (ask Michael Hussey) and then he played outstandingly! Michael Clarke and Punter ended the day with an unbeaten partnership of 231!
Punter is on 137* and Pup is on 111*. Michael Clarke is as equally impressive on this occassion as both himself, Punter and Marcus North became talking points with regards to their dimmer side of the summer. But when these guys show their class and answer the media's provoked questions it's got to make you grin especially after my article yesterday with regards to Punter's performances!
Pup was pretty flawless, while Punter had to really graft early on in his innings. But fluency arrived and the two of them walked away with satisfying performances. I enjoyed Pup's footwork against the spin bowling too.
The day end's with the Baggy Green in an strong situation with 3 wickets down and 302 runs on the board. The sundrenched Bellerive Oval crowd had a special day to see Punter play a fine innings in circumstances to just show once again that he is the go to guy and can step up the intensity when things are somewhat against him.
Despite Shane Watson, Simon Katich and Michael Hussey not having successful stays in the middle, the foundation is strong for Day 2 to resume.

But it was a day that just added an extra reflection for fans upon Punter's achievements in the previous decade passed.
I had a good laugh reading the readers comment's on Cricinfo who just can't seem to let go of any bitterness towards Punter.
Immediately I was waiting for the 'Why isn't Sachin there?', 'What about Sehwag?', 'Ponting is arrogant'!
It is importabt to note it is voted by a panel and there are a number of factors taken into account.
The Panel members were co-ordinated as follows:
India - 9, England/UK - 9, Australia - 8, Pakistan - 4, New Zealand - 3, South Africa - 2, Sri Lanka - 1, Windies - 1, Bangladesh - 1.
Then you wait for the next barrage of comments about Punter which we've heard before a million times. I am the first to admit that Punter is not what you would call the best role model for on-field behaviour all the time, but being the Skipper of the Aussie cricket team and being one of the modern day greats with the bat, pressure can mount to enourmous heights most average muppets watching their tele's would fold when trying to deal with it. I think Punter's a great bloke and I like his hard attitude!
Pressure in sport is a different ball game. Players have the financial rewards, one area in life most of us not being pro sportsmen will have to combat in tougher times, but we aren't under public scrutiny or having angry supporters publicly disgrace us when we make a mistake, don't perform to the best of our abilities etc.
I think given the pressure he has to handle and juggle it with his own performances and focus, it's no surprise Punter isn't aware of his achievements half of the time.
His Stats are terrific, his achievements in the last decade were of sheer class and he was a big part of one of the most dominating teams in World cricket of all time.
2003 was just an insane year for Punter and I am really proud to see him get this award and have witnessed his entire International career.
He's a fighter and a risk taker and that 'never give in' attitude is a testament to his character as a cricketer and the factor that probably gives his reputation a slightly darker side to the critic.
Being highly competitive and tough is Punter's dynamic and it's easy to believe the story that when he was a teenager he would go into the nets at the Academy without a helmet and make the blokes operating the bowling machines churn out a stack of fast paced bouncers at him too which, apparently, he would simply respond, "Is that the best you got!"
His intincts have slowed down marginally (the pull and hook shot) but his execution in his strokes has always been magnificent. His technique has sometimes exposed him. His play against the spinners has always gotten a slight upper hand against him, but he counter-attacks really well when the chips are down. He is able to whack a straight drive first ball in an innings with ideal timing and if he gets settled the shot selection is classy and once again, the execution is lethal!
He can take a knock on the elbow, a crack to the helmet and even the red ball against the mouth, to which he'll shrug it off, spit out blood and then get on with the battle.
He is still athletic, energetic and in ODI cricket last year we saw glimpses as to why he is one of the finest fieldsman.
A demon with direct hits and with lightning quick reflexes in the covers he has the attributes that undoubtedly makes him a maestro of the modern era.
With an innings that displayed leadership, aggressive intensity, power and excitement look no further than the 2003 World Cup Final at the Wanderers against India! It was a defining innings and tournament for Ricky Ponting and Australian cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar was for me, personally, the player of decade in the 90's. To this day I still enjoy watching Sachin bat and he is a well spoken Gentleman who really is a good ambassador for Indian cricket, but he also has a really tough personal life with all the pressure and expectation from the more die-hard supporters, which maybe has resulted in his aura fading ever so slightly. But this was not his era to claim, even though he brought about some special moments for us to remember...let's not even start to get into those!
Jacques Kallis was second to Punter, and I think what set Punter and Jacques apart is that Punter was a match-winner on more than one big occassion and the way he would play in pressure cooker situations was inspiring, atleast admirable to even the most disinterested follower of Aussie cricket.
Jacques was the finest all-rounder of the decade, in fact is one of the finest all-rounders of all time, but I can see why he came up seconds to Punter.
His stats are brilliant too and he has never been an exciting cricketer for me to watch, but he has an elegant touch of class. That is Jacques 'Jack of all trades' trademark!
You can read the article here, and then click here to read Punter's response to the award.

A great days cricket for the Baggy Green and a mighty fine one for Ricky Ponting, 'Player of the decade'.

Robelinda · 14th January 2010, 10:37 AM

User2010 · 14th January 2010, 10:38 AM

He deserves it.Leading Australia to 2 WC victories and leading from the front,he has been tremendous this decade.Still can't forget some of the glorious shots he played in the WC 2003 final and the way he thrashed us apart.Being an Indian it hurt but being a Cricket fan that innings was a 'treat' to watch.Saw his today's innings somewhat and he never really looked back after he was dropped.The man deserves it more than anyone else.

Well written mate,enjoyed it.

Robelinda · 14th January 2010, 10:46 AM

Plus 2 consecutive Champions Trophy's wins, and the most wins as test captain and one day captain. How good did other captains go in the decade? Most were awful. Ponting stands alone. We've all seen how captains cant take the heat, Sachin included.

User2010 · 14th January 2010, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robelinda

We've all seen how captains cant take the heat, Sachin included.

Agreed.But I don't understand why in every possible thread here 'Sachin' is dragged for no reason?

baggy_blogger · 14th January 2010, 10:53 AM

Thanks User2010. Appreciated as always!

Robelinda, you got the century you wanted to see!
Yeah I think the 2009 Champions Trophy rounded it off to a tee!

Robelinda · 14th January 2010, 09:28 PM

Some Punter innings that I love-

123 vs Pak at Colombo 2002- smashed Waqar and Saqlian to pieces that day, glorious stuff.

100* vs SA at Cape Town 2002, hit a 6 to win that match chasing 300 odd, super super knock that never gets a mention usually.

The twin tons in his 100th test, that display was Ponting at his absolute best- he hammered the SA bowlers, they had no chance. What a performance to make twin tons in his 100th test. The only batsman ever to do this.

*WORLD CHAMPIONS* · 14th January 2010, 09:49 PM

Punter totally deserved it. He has managed his qualiies along with his captaincy which is toughest. How many players can you name who maintained his form along with his captaincy. Ricky Thomas Ponting

TumTum · 14th January 2010, 10:09 PM

Great article from you as always.

And I don't think Ponting is finished yet, hope he can make it till 2013.

Gazza · 14th January 2010, 11:07 PM

Great stuff again. The formatting is a bid dodgy though, you just need to space out your paragraphs more.

Great explanation of the system though.

baggy_blogger · 15th January 2010, 06:49 AM

Thanks mate. Yes, the paragraphs are not correctly formatted, just do it like this (even though I shouldn't) so it's easier to read through and absorb each topic within the article and make the links easier to source out.

baggy_blogger added 2 Minutes and 18 Seconds later...

Oh yeah the 2002 Test at Newlands. Go and read about that game and moment of Punters in Steve Waugh's book.
5th Double Ton for Punter. Epic!

Robelinda · 15th January 2010, 07:37 AM

Yep Tugga's book is great. Huge test match for us back then. Punter didnt collect many of the accolades, Warne's 100th test and he bowled a HUGE amount of overs.

ZoraxDoom · 15th January 2010, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robelinda

Plus 2 consecutive Champions Trophy's wins, and the most wins as test captain and one day captain. How good did other captains go in the decade? Most were awful. Ponting stands alone. We've all seen how captains cant take the heat, Sachin included.

To be fair, other captains didn't have Hayden, Langer, Gilly, McGrath, Warne, etc. in their sides. Gillespie, Lee, Martyn, Symonds...

Most captains with a side like the one Ponting had would have pulled of similar, if not better, win records. So I wouldn't read too much into that.

baggy_blogger · 16th January 2010, 09:59 AM

Yeah but his individual efforts as a part of that team were outstanding.
Before all of the dominant era went their own ways Punter was very much a major part of the batting core in both test and ODI cricket.
Sure enough he had some of the finest cricketers but he still had to know their games, know how to execute their skills, inspire the guys and it wasn't like he rode on their success.
Every guy in that team contributed and while Pigeon and Warnie are the bowling greats, Punter will immediately be a noted leader with the bat.

TumTum · 16th January 2010, 11:36 AM

Cricinfo - Blogs - From the Editor - Why Ponting was voted Player of the Decade

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sambit Bal

It was never a question of who was the best player over a whole career. In a list of all-time great batsmen, Tendulkar and Brian Lara would always be, at least in my book, ahead of Ponting. But their best years were in the 90s. As were Warne's. No batsman has dominated the decade of the bat as much as Ponting.

LOL it is so funny hearing Indians absolute hatred against Ponting, oh no he is challenging their "god"

How can he say Ponting clearly dominated a whole 10 years, and then say that? So it doesn't matter if Ponting suddenly starts scoring a ton of runs and takes his career average to 70? (hypothetically speaking)