Johanesburg, October 05: Ricky Ponting has urged his side to keep their cool in their Champions Trophy final against New Zealand.
Although they were not red-hot favourites before the tournament began, Australia have maintained their awesome record at big ICC events, and will enter the finals, heavily favoured against the New Zealanders.
But there are a number of players, like Mitchell Johnson, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle and Callum Ferguson, who are featuring in their first global showpiece.
“The thing I’ve stressed to the guys is not to get too carried away by the size of the occasion, we just have to put up a performance we know we can and not try anything too spectacular, and if we do that I’m sure you’ll see a good game from us,” said Ponting.
Matches between the neighbouring countries have been fiercely contested down the years – this year’s one-day series in Australia finished 2-2 – and that is the same across all sports.
“It’s always been a great rivalry whether it be cricket, rugby or netball or whatever it is,” said Ponting. “The countries always seem to have some very good clashes.”
“It’s one we’re looking forward to. We are very excited about what this game can hold and very excited about the way we are playing at the moment.”
And the short, sharp nature of the competition has also left a favourable impression on Ponting.
“This has been an excellent tournament,” he said. “It has been very rough for us, obviously, with coming in with England as late as we did, but this has certainly been the best and most enjoyable Champions Trophy I’ve played in.”
“To have the best eight teams and a shorter period of time, people around this country and around the world will have really enjoyed the one-day cricket that has been played in the last couple of weeks.”
“These events are about showcasing the game and this has been a great spectacle for the 50-over game.”
“Bringing powerplays in has added a slightly different dimension to it all now, certainly from the batting side of things.”
“If you want to play the best you possibly can, you have to maximise those middle overs – if you do that you are always going to make big scores.”
“The more attractive a game the players can make it, the better the fans will enjoy it.”
—–Agencies