Ponting retiring

What can you say about the retirement of Ricky Ponting. Ex-Australian captain in Tests and ODIs and legend with the bat and in the field. He who once led one of the best cricket teams in history.

There is not much to say. He was brilliant as a captain, a batsman and a fielder. He led Australia to numerous wins as the best team in tests and ODIs for many years. He captained Australia in their 2003 and 2007 world cup victories. He was Australia's most successful captain, being the skipper in 48 victorious test and 164 one-day matches.

For me Ponting, Kallis and Tendulkar make up the Big Three in our age of cricket batsmen. In terms of lengthy and successful batting careers, they are the best. Of course Ponting had to retire one day, but it is still strange to think about what Australian cricket would be like without him.

I take my hat off to him. He served Australian cricket for so long and with such vigour. Well done Ricky Ponting. I hope he, his wife and two daughters can benefit from the time he has available after finishing with Tasmania in a few months.

Ricky Ponting (37 years old). Picture taken from http://www.bolegaindia.com

Was he Australia's greatest ever cricketer? What do you think?

Hero

Faf Duplessis (28 years old). Picture taken from IOL sport

I have to eat my words.

In my last post I said that Dean Elgar or David Miller should replace JP Duminy ahead of Faf du Plessis in the second test match between Australia and South Africa. Not that Elgar is a lesser batsman, but du Plessis was selected, and ended up playing two brilliant innings. The second innings was nothing short of heroic.

He made 78 (159) and 110* (376) saving the test match and proving his mettle. His second innings reminded me of one Neil McKenzie played against England at Lords when he scored 138 off 446 balls to help SA to a draw after finding themselves in an incredibly poor position.

Like I did with AB de Villiers and Graeme Smith, I wrote du Plessis off after a few international shortcomings, only to be proven immensely wrong of the existence of tremendous batting talent and ability. I hope he is selected again in future test matches and ODIs.

Who should replace Duminy?

The first test match between South Africa and Australia ended in a draw with neither side dominating the other. Michael Clarke's 259 not out off 398 balls was brilliant. The Proteas need to work on their bowling against the Australian Batsmen. An even more pressing matter though is with whom they should replace JP Duminy with.

There are two test matches left, the next one only starting on the 22nd of November. For me Rory Kleinveldt is not a great test bowler, he didn't prove it either in the match. The Proteas should replace him with a spinner. Maybe Imran Tahir, or another person perhaps.

I am certain that selectors will consider Francois du Plessis and Dean Elgar as suitable replacements for Duminy. They are both good batsmen and can bowl part-time spin. However for me, du Plessis has failed too many times in the international arena and I think he should not be given another chance. Elgar is definitely a good option. 

According to espncricinfo.com he has scored 5326 runs in first class cricket at an average of 44.75. So he's quite good.

Dean Elgar (25) Picture taken from the Gauteng Cricket Board website

For me though. I think David Miller should be given a chance. He's proven he can play very well in limited over competitions and has done so in international games. He was brilliant in the Hong Kong sixes, which the  South African team actually won this year. He outshone captain Colin Ingram in a few of the HK6s games. 
Though his statistics are not as impressive, they are ever improving and I think he is becoming one of the best batsment in south africa.

David Miller (23) Picture taken from the Gauteng Cricket Board website