Is Pontings Career Over?

It happens to all great sportsman and now it is time for Ponting.  The retirement of a cricketer these days is not what it used to be.  With the big money around most stay on for as long as they can and will never step aside knowing their time has come.  Very few are given the opportunity to go out on their own note instead usually given the tap on the shoulder or completely blindsided.

Their has been strong talk of late that this will be Pontings last summer and after the dismal effort in the first test in South Africa Ponting is now facing even more scrutiny.  Is it warranted?  Yes Ponting has been a great player and his record speaks for itself but when you look at the last two years should he still be there.

Only last year it was deemed that he should no longer be the captain after losing yet another series to the English and in poor form with the bat he was no longer the right person to lead the team.  So while he is not the captain only his batting should be viewed when deciding if his form warrants his selection.  And this is where the selectors are seen to be absolute idiots when it comes to the selection table.

Looking at his recent form indicates a poor showing. In his last 14 Test matches Ponting has not scored a century and only five half centuries. Five notable scores out of 28 Innings is not a notable achievement and his last 50+ score was 14 innings ago. In fact he has only scored 1 century in the last 28 Test Matches.  He is getting dismissed LBW on too many occasions and is scoring a low strike rate which is signs of a batsmen struggling for form. One only has too watch him at the crease to know he is struggling.

I have never liked how Australian selectors have handled the ending of any careers over the past and I feel this is another they will mess up.  For all the talk, and enquiries Cricket Australia seem to be a rudderless ship at the moment.  No coach leading into a home series is not acceptable and when you have a captain running the team overseas is from a bygone era.  With all the ongoings in Australian Cricket I find it hard to believe that CEO James Sutherland is still running the show.

At the end of the day it looks like Michael Clarke will have a big say on whether Ponting gets to carry on in test cricket.  Clarke has ruined the career of two cricketers at least so it will be interesting to see what pans out and if he continues to make sure Ponting is in his team.