Ponting vows to bat on, despite ODI exit
Updated: February 22, 2012, 14:53
BRISBANE, Australia (AP) Ricky Ponting didn't become one of the world's most successful cricketers by caving into pressure - in the crease, from critics or from national team selectors.
So his somewhat belligerent reaction to being dropped from Australia's limited-overs squad didn't surprise anyone who has followed the career of the two-time World Cup-winning captain: just a day after being axed, Ponting vowed to bat on in the test arena.
The man who scored a double century in his last test match six weeks ago said retirement was out of the question, not even uttering the word in a news conference that was televised live across Australia on Tuesday.
He conceded that he was unlikely to play limited-overs cricket for Australia again. But the 37-year-old Ponting insisted the 2013 Ashes series was on his radar, warning that he wouldn't go quietly into retirement. He seemed to be suggesting he'd have to be dropped by selectors in order to miss next year's tour to England, where he has lost the last two Ashes series and is desperate to seek some redemption.
"I'm backing myself to finish the game and finish my career on a high," Ponting said. "I don't want to finish on a low. I'll make the right decision at the right time, there's no doubt about that."
Throughout his career, Ponting has made an art form of being obstinate and belligerent, usually to the detriment of bowlers. He applies similar characteristics off the field, defying plenty of doubters who've called for him to retire or be dropped since Australia lost the Ashes on home soil last year.
He silenced his critics in the test arena by hitting a double century, a century and three half century in six innings in the 4-0 series sweep of No. 2-ranked India last month, averaging 108 for the series.
"It's not about defying anybody," Ponting said of his refusal to retire. "It's about being the best that I can be and winning games of cricket for Australia."
Former teammates Matt Hayden and Darren Lehmann both posted tweets expressing surprise and outrage at the timing of Ponting's ODI ousting. But most critics thought it was time.
Ponting admitted he didn't see it coming in the last week, but said the selectors took the courageous call to drop him because his form wasn't good enough in his last five innings.
He scored five consecutive single-digit scores - the worst sequence in a 375-game ODI career that stretches back to 1995 and includes five World Cup campaigns.
He didn't specifically say he'd retired, but conceded chief selector John Inverarity had made it clear he was no longer part of their plans for the ODI squad as they build for the 2015 World Cup.
"I don't expect to be recalled into the one-day side," Ponting said. Inverarity, "made it pretty clear to me yesterday that he doesn't expect for me to be playing one-day cricket again, so that's where it is for me.
"It would have to take four or five guys to go down in one game in Hobart on Friday for me to be even considered again, but I don't think I'll ever be considered and that's the way I'm approaching it. That sits comfortably with me."
Ponting's immediate aim is selection for the three-test series in the West Indies in April and to play domestic cricket for Tasmania, starting with Saturday's interstate limited-overs final.
"Now that international one-day cricket's not there, what I have left is test match cricket and I'll make sure that I'm as well-prepared as possible to play every game and make the most of every opportunity that I get," he said. "The passion for international cricket for me has not died or changed one little bit."
Ponting quit as Australia captain after the World Cup quarterfinal loss to India last March but has remained in the ODI and test squads as a specialist batsman and still is one of the leading fielders in the country. He stopped playing Twenty20 cricket in 2009.
Ponting played his last ODI on Sunday, needing 13 balls to get off the mark and scoring a scratchy 7 from 26 balls as he deputized for injured Michael Clarke as captain in the 110-run win over World Cup champion India at Brisbane.
After that match, he said he wanted to bat his way into form, as he had done in the test arena this summer.
"I got a lot of satisfaction out of this summer because I proved to myself and I proved to my teammates that I can (still) win games for Australia," he said. He has scored 13,200 runs, including 41 centuries, in 162 tests at 53.44 and was the second-highest scorer in the last series against India behind only Clarke. He's the third most-prolific test batsman of all time.
Ponting said that form didn't transfer into the one-day arena, but he was confident he could revive his batting for the West Indies series.
"From my point of view, of course I still felt there was still room in the team for me, but at the end of the day if I'd made runs, I'd have stayed in the team," he said. "When you don't make runs in five consecutive games, you understand that there's an opportunity there for selectors to leave you out."
Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said the selectors had to make decisions "without fear or favor that is in the best interest of Australian cricket."
"They've made that decision. Not everyone will agree with that but they've made that decision and that's their job to do that," Sutherland said before paying tribute to Ponting's standing in the 50-over format. As captain, Ponting had more ODI victories than anyone.
"I think his career is incomparable in one-day cricket: five World Cups, four finals, three championships and two as captain, plus all the runs and special feats in the field," Sutherland said. "I just can't think of a player that has made a greater contribution and been a better one-day cricketer, particularly in the big moments."
He had a 76 percent winning rate as captain in 230 ODIs. Ponting won three World Cups, leading Australia to the titles in 2003 and 2007. He scored 13,704 runs at 42.03 in ODIs. He still considers his imperious 140 in the 2003 final against India at Johannesburg as one of the highlights of his cricket career.
Ponting's run tally, which includes 82 ODI 50s and 30 centuries, is second only to India's Sachin Tendulkar at limited-overs international level.
By JOHN PYE
Updated February 21, 2012
