Punter feared inexperience could cost Aussie team
Former Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting believes a lack of senior figures and leadership contributed to the national team losing its way, culminating in the ball tampering controversy in South Africa.
Captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were both banned for 12 months while opening batsman Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months for their role in the sandpaper cheating scandal that saw Austra- lian cricket sink to its lowest ebb ever.
Ponting revealed he had been concerned for several years about the lack of strong, experienced figures in the Aussie dressing room and believes this helped allow a culture to foster where nobody was strong enough to stand up and prevent the ball tampering episode from happening.
Speaking this week at a fundraising dinner for the Chappell Foundation, Ponting revealed he delayed his international retirement because he was concerned about the direction Australia would head in if he wasn’t around to help mentor younger players who were being thrust into the team without many older heads around them.
“I was a bit worried that with a lot of the experience going out of our team at the same time, that there would be a bit of a void left with experienced players to be able to say ‘no’ basically,” Ponting said, as reported by Cricinfo’s Daniel Brettig.
“If I look at where things got at Cape Town I just don’t think there were enough people around that team to say ‘no’ to some of those guys.
“Things got completely out of control. That’s very much an outsider’s view on it,” said Ponting.
“I had nothing to do with the team really until the last couple of years around some Twenty20 cricket and the World Cup last year.
“I probably should have retired three or four years earlier than I did but I was really worried about where the direction of the Australian cricket team was going if I wasn’t around.
“And I wanted to be around to help Warner and Smith and Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle and Mitchell Johnson.
“I wanted to help them through that initial phase of their international careers because I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for them.”