FORMER Test greats have called on Ricky Ponting to retire by the end of the summer before he risks the ignominy of being axed by the Australian selectors. Ponting is one of at least four players whose Test careers will come under the microscope following Australia’s eight-wicket loss to South Africa in the first Test – a defeat that skipper Michael Clarke rated among the worst of his career.
Opener Phil Hughes, misfiring paceman Mitchell Johnson and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin are also feeling the heat, but the pressure on Ponting has now become almost suffocating.
The former Test skipper, who turns 37 next month, made eight and 0 in the Newlands capitulation. And with the runs having deserted him – Ponting has 245 Test runs in the past year at a lowly 18.84 – he is facing his cricketing mortality just a month shy of Australia’s home summer against New Zealand and India.
Former Australia and South Africa opener Kepler Wessels was precisely Ponting’s age (36 years and 11 months) when he retired from Test cricket in 1994.
Just last week, Ponting said retirement was the last thing on his mind, but Wessels urged the Tasmanian to make the toughest call of his glittering career before the selectors do it for him.
“He can’t go on indefinitely,” said Wessels, who played 24 Tests for Australia and was at Newlands in a commentary role.
“If he does all the right things I think he’s got another 12 months left in him, but it’s never a good idea to hang on that long. You want to go out a bit earlier rather than a bit too late.
“The Indian series could be a good time to go.
“He’s the only one who will know. You know within when you are past your best, but I would hate to see someone like Ricky Ponting dropped from the side. I’d rather see him go before he is pushed.”
Having overcome a broken finger, Ponting insists he is feeling the best he has in two years.
But it is not just statistics letting him down. At Newlands, Ponting twice walked across his crease and was trapped lbw both times. He now has one century from his past 55 international innings – his gutsy 104 against India in the World Cup quarter-final in March.
“At Ricky’s age you have to accept that if you’re not scoring runs you will be under pressure,” Wessels said.
“His problem is he’s falling over and he’s very anxious at the beginning of his innings. He’s done a few things wrong in this Test match so somehow he has to correct that.
“When you get to your late 30s you start surviving on experience and technique because you just lose that little bit of sharpness that you had.”
West Indies bowling great Michael Holding, now a leading commentator, hopes Ponting is not tapped on the shoulder by the Australian selectors.
“I would hate to see someone as great a player as Ricky Ponting get to the stage where people start wondering why he is still playing,” Holding said.
“When you get to his stage of greatness, you don’t want to get to the point where people are saying it’s embarrassing to watch them.
“I don’t think Ricky has gotten to that stage yet, but I hope he doesn’t wait until that stage before he calls it a day.