Today Ricky Ponting retired as Australian Cricket Captain. The comments I have read have painted Ponting as unrealistically good, or unrealistically bad. So what should we make of him?
Well firstly, he is the best batsman that Australia has produced in the last thirty years or so. Perhaps the best since Bradman, but I am unable to make that judgement. He is certainly one of the four great batsmen of the last twenty years. Only Sachin consistently outshines him, and even that was a close run thing until the last two years. Lara was better at his best, but Ponting had him in the long haul. Kallis is the invisible one of the four, included because of sheer weight of numbers.
As a batsman, he is a great, but as a captain? If Kallis is one of the greats by sheer weight of numbers, then perhaps Ricky is one of the great captains. He has a winning record that is amazing - 48 test wins is more than any other Aussie captain, and until Australia's recent slump, the best winning percentage. He won over 70% of his one day games as captain, including two world cups in which Australia went through unbeaten. Yet on the other side of the ledger is the fact that he is the only Australian captain to lose the Ashes three times.
Comparing him the his three predecessors, I don't think he stands up well. Border was not a natural captain, but grew into the role. He handed Taylor a far better team than he inherited. Taylor was the most natural captain I have ever seen (Flemming of New Zealand was an extremely close second). He seemed to read the game in amazing ways and come up with great moves more often than not. Once again the team that he handed Waugh was even better than he received. Waugh read the game well, if not as well as Taylor, but he also added a level of steel and aggression to the team. The team he left Ponting was amongst the best in history. Ponting's record was built on the back of a team that included, at different times, players like Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Hussey, Gilchrist (not to mention one Ricky Ponting) amongst the batsmen, and Warne, McGrath, McGill and Gillespie amongst the bowlers.
A team like that would probably have won if my grandmother had captained it - provided she didn't have to bat or field. Not only were the players exceptional, but there was a winning culture around the team. McGrath and Warne in particular felt they could pull the team back from any position, and did often enough that everyone else believed it too. Ponting's strategy - a good one under the circumstances - was at the first sign of trouble hand one of them the ball. On the other side, the batsmen intimidated all but the best of bowlers. Teams were often psyched out before even a ball was bowled (remember Steve Harmison's howler in Brisbane anyone?). The culture and the aura survived the departure of most of these players, with only a few small cracks (2005 Ashes, 2008-9 home series vs. South Africa) until 2009. Australia was still the world number one test team after the return series to South Africa that year. Unfortunately the cracks opened up quickly from there on.
The leader of this team, Ponting, was not a natural captain. Unlike Border, I don't think he grew up into the job. At the end he still struggled to think creatively on the field. He seemed a bit lost with how to deal with a spinner who needed guidance - Warne and McGill had known their games so well and were so well established that they virtually took care of themselves.
Ponting did however have one outstanding leadership quality. Those who played under him seem to be incredibly loyal to him. With only one exception, I have never heard any of his players - past or present - say or do anything to undermine him. Rather there is a fierceness to their loyal support when Ponting is attacked. The one exception was Shane Warne - the man who probably would have had Ponting's job if he had been able to clean up his off field behaviour at least as much as Punter did. Such loyalty from such a diverse group as the Australian XI has been over the years says something for his leadership. He more than his immediate predecessors won the heart of his team. Only Border came close, and that because he was the father figure of the team.
In the past couple of years the pressure got to Ponting. As the team deteriorated, so did his performances. He was trying to be everything. Captain, Premier Batsman, Rebuilder, Mentor, Chief Spokesman and cheerleader, everything. I think that it was the right decision to hand over the reigns and concentrate on what he does best - batting. We need him to help the team over this hump. And for that he needs a clear mind - one focus - score as many runs as he can. And if he helps some of the young guns get into the game - all the better.
