RICKY Ponting has received high-level support to extend his Test career beyond this summer’s showdown with England even if he presides over another Ashes failure. National selector Greg Chappell insisted Test cricket’s most successful captain would not be pushed out the door if he becomes the first Australian captain in 120 years to suffer a hat-trick of Ashes series defeats.
While Ponting has not ruled out leading Australia to England in 2013, he is acutely aware of the selection pressure felt by his predecessors Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor and Allan Border in their twilight years.
The national selectors, however, have moved to ease the strain on the 145-Test veteran by giving him their unqualified support to bat on.
“You want your good players playing for as long as possible. The fresher Ricky is, the better we will like it,” Chappell said yesterday. “He’s a great player, Ricky. I still feel he has that ability and I can’t see why he can’t go on (beyond this year’s Ashes). Ricky loves his cricket and loves his batting. I think he will be fine.”
On Ponting’s surviving until the 2013 Ashes, Chappell said: “I can’t make any predictions about whether he can go that far. Ricky is ultimately the only one who knows and he probably doesn’t even know himself at this stage how long he can do. It will depend on how his body is.
“But the mind controls the reflexes; if the mind is sharp then the reflexes will be fine. It’s really just about keeping the mind sharp and Ricky seems to be doing that.”
Ponting, who turns 36 next month, confronted his cricketing mortality in July when he said: “I’ll probably be looking for a new job if we lose (the Ashes) again.”
But the Tasmanian insists he is far from finished. He accepts he needs a bumper series against the English, mindful he has not averaged more than 50 in a calendar year since 2006, when he made 1 333 runs and seven tons at 88.87.
“I said it as a throwaway line that turned into something a bit more than that,” Ponting said yesterday.
“I’m giving myself the best chance possible (of going to England in 2013). I’ve worked pretty hard on the physical side of my game over the last few months, and I just want to enjoy this series for what it is.
“This week is the most exciting week you have as an international player.”
Earlier this year, chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch backed Ponting to play until his late 30s and said he had no reason to fear losing the captaincy.
“I think he’s the one player who can play longer than others. I’d be surprised if Ricky didn’t get back there (to England),” Hilditch said.
“There are always various things said about Ricky and his captaincy and stuff like that, but when it comes down to it, Ricky is a great leader of men and he does a fantastic job within the side.
“He leads by example, he’s always rock solid and has the team heading in the right direction. He really unites the side.” (The Herald Sun).