MELBOURNE – Heart-broken after failing to regain the Ashes on Wednesday, Ricky Ponting was forced to admit the captaincy issue was out of his hands and his powers with the bat may be on the wane.
Ponting, whose struggles with the bat have mirrored Australia’s underwhelming campaign, became his country’s first captain in 120 years to lose the Ashes three times. Speculation has been rife that the 36-year-old may step down as captain or skip next week’s fifth and final match of the series to rest the broken finger he sustained in the third test victory in Perth.
Ponting made it clear the selectors, who will meet on Wednesday and put out a 12-man squad on Thursday for the fifth test, would have to drag him out kicking and screaming. “It’s out of my control,” he said, grappling for words to convey his determination to stay on. “I want to keep playing, I would love to keep leading the team and think I’ve got a lot to offer in both of those regards.
“I guess the fact that I lost those three series is disappointing for me, hopefully I’m not only remembered as that guy, the guy that lost those three Ashes series,” the 36-year-old told reporters. “I wish I knew,” Ponting told reporters with furrowed brow, when asked to explain his form lapse. “I’ve trained the same way, I felt like I’ve been well prepared for every game.” “When you’re having a run like I’m having at the moment, you tend to try and find ways of getting out and the game can just really grab hold of you and you feel like you’re unlucky all the time.”
Ponting has stuck barnacle-like to the number three position for most of his career, but admitted that selector Greg Chappell had talked to him about a possible move down the order to number four before the opening Brisbane test.
