Ricky Ponting accuses England of time wasting in Ashes Test

[Scorpio30]

RICKY Ponting has accused England of not playing within the spirit of cricket with their cynical time-wasting tactics in the first Ashes Test draw.
A furious Ponting blasted the Poms for sending physiotherapist Steve McCaig on to the field to run gloves to tailender Jimmy Anderson as he and fellow tailender Monty Panesar batted out a tense draw. Last men standing Panesar (7no) and James Anderson (21no) batted out 69 deliveries as England finished at 9-252 and the Ashes series will head to Lord's this week locked at 0-0.
With time ticking down and only seven minutes left, it was a clear delaying tactic that Ponting claimed was "pretty ordinary" and not in the spirit of the game.
"I didn't see him (Anderson) call for any physio to come out on the ground . . . as far as I'm concerned it was pretty ordinary actually," Ponting insisted.
"I think he changed his glove the over before. I'm not sure if his gloves were going to be too sweaty in one over?
"But they can play whatever way they want to play. We came to play by the rules and the spirit of the game, it's up to them to do what they want to do.
"There was nothing there that we could do out on the ground. We had to get them off as quick as we could and get a couple more overs.
"I was unhappy with it, but it lasted a couple of minutes and we got them off the ground."
Bizarrely England skipper Andrew Strauss claimed Anderson's gloves needed to be changed because he had spilt drinks on them in a drinks break.
"We first of all sent the 12th man out just to let Jimmy and Monty know about the fact there was time left rather than just the overs," Strauss said.
"Then there was drink spilt on his glove and Jimmy called up to the dressing room - we weren't sure whether he needed the 12th man or the physio. There was a lot of confusion, to be honest.
"Our intentions were good. I don't think we were deliberately trying to waste a huge amount of time, that wasn't our tactic.
""Those two were playing pretty well out there in the middle. The reality of the situation is that Australia didn't take that final wicket."
After play, Ponting claimed England had been outplayed for four days and Australia would head to the second Test at Lord's this week with a clear advantage.
Ponting was disappointed with the draw but insisted his team could hold their heads high.
"I'm not looking at this as a let-down," Ponting said.
"I'm disappointed that we didn't win, but I'm not let down by the way we played.
"We gave ourselves a great opportunity, we got extremely close, stumbled at the last hurdle, but I'm very proud of what the guys achieved.
"They (England) will have more soul-searching and selection issues than we will," Ponting said.
"We know what we've done so well here and we can take a lot of confidence from that.
"Commentators over the last few days have been talking about the selection changes that England need to make for next week.
"They can go away and worry about that."




http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25771600-10389,00.html

:lol: That'll do me...Ponting accusing someone of not playing in the spirit of cricket.

 

[Twizzle]

of course they did, who wouldn't in that position

as long as umpires continue to do nothing about it, teams will continue to get away with it

 

[IanG]

as long as umpires continue to do nothing about it, teams will continue to get away with it

Exactly. The umps need to grow a set.

 

[KeepingTheFaith]

There's no doubt England intentionally wasted time, but Ricky Ponting coming out and lecturing about the "spirit of cricket" is just cringeworthy.

 

[shiznit]

i reckon punter has a good point though... it was disgraceful from england.

and i like how he said it was up to england on how they would play. i hope that means he wont follow suit. although hes probably entitled to.

 

[Ridders]

Don't see what was wrong with what he said. The first time the 12th man came on was borderline, the second time he came on, along with the physio for no apparent reason was poor form. Imo England didn't even need it, just was a sour point in the game.

 

[IanG]

It was helped by the last session of Day 4 being totally washed out.

 

[Big_Bad_Shark_Fan]

England played well below the spirit of the game, once again.

The sending the trainers out was ridiculous, just like the 335 meetings between Strauss and the bowler the day before to slow the overs down.

 

[tokerShark]

ive never seen anyone celebrate a draw like the english fans, bunch of tossers

 

[melon....]

If anyone deserves a bollocking its Fatso Flintoff. The f**kwit was caught clean and stood his ground and had the gall to ask if Ponting caught it clean. You f**king Pommy Wanker!! Got him!! Piss Off! Youre out!

 

[melon....]

ive never seen anyone celebrate a draw like the english fans, bunch of tossers

When you make an art out of losing, a draw is like winning Gold.

 

[Timbo]

I agree, they also played well against the spirit of the game.

Oh, Ponting, you twat, it would have been a moot point IF YOU GAVE HILFENHAUS A BOWL YOU DICKHEAD.

Your obsession with that idiot Johnson cost us the game, not the English physio.

 

[hineyrulz]

Whats Ponting whinging about really??? We had 69 balls to get out one of the biggest Bunnies in world cricket. And we failed, no use whinging about a bit of gamemanship. And also ask yourself why our most dangerous bowler only bowled 12 of the 100 overs bowled last night????

 

[Matt23]

Yep Ponting's trying to deflect blame from his own incompetence...predictable coming from him really.

 

[eddiesmith]

Lucky Ponting didnt waste any time by whingeing to the umpires when they made a correct decision...

 

[Tommy Smith]

LOL

Of course it was time-wasting. And of course Australia would have done the same.

http://www.amazon.com/Australias-Bi...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247468375&sr=8-1

 

[Big_Bad_Shark_Fan]

LOL

Of course it was time-wasting. And of course Australia would have done the same.

Agreed and Agreed.

It was time wasting , but who wouldnt do it.

And to those who said England celebrate like its a win....well its as good as a win, they were effectively 1-0 down at many stages yesterday but have clawed back to 0-0. We celebrated the same in 2005 at Old Trafford i think, or wherever the 3rd test was.

 

[El Diablo]

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25771659-5001505,00.html

Strauss needs to learn about the spirit of cricket

Malcolm Conn, in Cardiff | July 13, 2009
Article from: The Australian

KEVIN Pietersen is not the only England player in denial.

He has been joined by his fellow South African-born team-mate, Andrew Strauss.

The England captain is either a weak leader or has no idea about the spirit of cricket.

To suggest “our intentions were good” after sending an acting 12th man and physiotherapist onto the field to deliberately waste time in the dying minutes of the tensely drawn first Test is ridiculous.

Even more damning, he said: “I don't think we were deliberately trying to waste a huge amount of time, that wasn't our tactic.”

There wasn't a huge amount of time left. It was the act and the intent, not the minutes that mattered.

As captain he is far more culpable than Pietersen is for the dumb shots he played in what became a tense and exciting draw.

Strauss is responsible for the fundamental fabric of the game, which has been tarnished as a result of his appalling cynicism.

While players do not make reading the Laws of Cricket of high priority, Strauss should be well aware of the preamble which reinforces the spirit of cricket.

It says in part: “The major responsibility for ensuring the spirit of fair play rests with the captains.”

So whether to gratuitously attempt to waste time was his idea or not, he wears it.

If it was not Strauss's idea but someone else in the team hierarchy he should be ashamed of himself for being pushed into such a Black Adder cunning plan.

If he did give the order unprompted for such a blatant act of panicked stupidity, then he has a lot to learn about the art of captaincy beyond shuffling bowlers and fieldsmen.

Opposing captain Ricky Ponting rightly described the unwarranted ground invasion by England staff as “pretty ordinary” and was hopeful that match referee Jeff Crowe would look at the matter further.

Crowe should also be occupied with another pretty ordinary act - Stuart Broad barging Peter Siddle after the England tailender edged Australias most aggressive fast bowler through the slips to the boundary.

Tension was high yesterday, no question. It showed in many ways, including Pointing's unnecessary animation to umpire Aleem Dar when the Australian captain thought he had England batting hero Paul Collingwood caught at silly point.

But cricket is a non-contact sport. Broad should know that better than anyone.

His father Chris, the former opening batsman turned match referee, suspended Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir for elbowing Australian all-rounder Shane Watson in Delhi last October.

Ironically perhaps, Gambhir was reported under the International Cricket Council's cover-all charge of conduct contrary to the spirit of the game.

While Strauss's conduct is being questioned, Ponting has questions of his own to answer about tactics.

His decision to use occasional off-spinner Marcus North for two of the final four overs baffled the pundits and delighted England.

Tailend hero Jimmy Anderson was overjoyed to see North given the ball. Strauss said he believed Mitchell Johnson was the man.

Ponting argued that by bowling North he could get in an extra over from his front line spinner, Nathan Hauritz, and he would have two off-spinners turning the ball away from a pair of left-handed tail enders.

However in Sydney against South Africa seven months ago Ponting used Johnson in similar dramatic circumstances, all be it on a more responsive pitch, and Johnson came up trumps for him.

Another wicket in Cardiff and the debate would be decidedly muted.

But England's great escape after Australia so completely dominated this match has ensured that North bowling at the death will linger through this series and beyond.

At least Ponting was within the spirit of the game, something England cannot claim despite all the denials.

 

[Danish]

Exactly. The umps need to grow a set.

One ump did...


He was booted

 

[African Monkey]

Agreed and Agreed.

It was time wasting , but who wouldnt do it.

And to those who said England celebrate like its a win....well its as good as a win, they were effectively 1-0 down at many stages yesterday but have clawed back to 0-0. We celebrated the same in 2005 at Old Trafford i think, or wherever the 3rd test was.

Yes that was the 3rd test where Lee and McGrath survived a few overs at the end. There's no problem celebrating draws especially in situations like yesterday and in 2005.