Melbourne, August 17: Ricky Ponting has been booed by English crowds, has been under fire for his captaincy and has then led his team to a resurrection, where they stand on the brink of retaining the Ashes. Through it all, he has displayed a remarkable composure and ability to stay unruffled – quite unlike the Ponting of the past.
With the absence of any over-the-top outburst, drama or hyperbole, Ponting’s words carry much heavier weight now – so when he says that the fifth Ashes Test at the Oval is the biggest match of his career, it is worth taking note of.
“I have played in 135 Test matches but never played in a match as big as this one,” Ponting wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph. “There is nothing bigger than playing a deciding Test in an Ashes series, and you have to grab these moments when they present themselves because you may never experience such a match ever again.
“That kind of excitement adds a bit of zip to your training and when that starts happening it generally spills over into the week of the game. There has been a very positive feel about our training during the last couple of days. We enjoyed a few days of rest in Leeds but since arriving in Canterbury we have trained very hard and I’m happy with where we are at the moment.”
After playing down the 2005 Ashes defeat and any disappointment associated with it, Ponting finally admitted that he has been waiting for the chance to get redemption in England.
“The only motivation I need this week is the memory of having to search out Michael Vaughan, congratulate him and shake hands at the end of the Ashes series of four years ago,” he wrote. “We were off the field when we lost the match due to bad light and the fact that we never had a chance to have a crack at chasing down our target left a bitter taste in the mouth.
“I also remember we made sure we stood outside and watched the ticker tape, the popping of champagne corks and the fireworks. We made sure we took it all in to make us better and stronger for the next time we played in 2006-07. But heading to The Oval this week it is clear that roles have been reversed completely since 2005.
“Then we were the team facing questions over selection. They had a settled line-up and just come off a victory in the fourth Test at Trent Bridge. Now it is us who have the momentum gained from comprehensively winning at Headingley. We are comfortable with what we have achieved in the last Test-and-a-half.”
Ponting also felt that reverse swing could play a major role in the final Test, thus opening the door for the possible selection of Brett Lee.
“Brett Lee is jumping out of his skin to get involved,” he wrote. “It was very exciting watching him bowl with reverse swing in the match at Worcester, and if he had not been injured he would have played in the first Test.
“In 2005 reverse swing dominated the series. This year it has probably been a damper summer and we have only seen conventional swing. The Oval is the one ground where that may change, especially if we have a dry, hot week.”
—–Agencies