The Ponting progression

Ricky Ponting is an Australian conundrum. Copiously talented and possessing all the shots against pace bowling, the aggressive Tasmanian right-hander has distinguished himself at one-day international level and on several notable occasions in Tests.

For around four years now, it has seemed only a matter of time before Ponting ascends to the highest echelon of batsmen. Yet frustratingly for his supporters and no doubt the man himself, each time it has appeared he is on the verge of making that next step to superstardom, something has held him back. Whether it be infamous off-field indiscretions or a sudden string of low scores, an occasionally brilliant career has been consistently set back by some form of adversity.

Most players are dropped at some point in their careers and then have their character measured by how strongly they bounce back. The 26-year-old Ponting has twice felt the selectorial axe and came closer than ever to being dropped a third time in India this year. That did not happen, but even without a third axing, rebounding from that series is a stern enough Test of character. Although not truly at the crossroads of his career, Ponting's future will be determined to a large degree on how he performs in the next 12 months.

As the youngest batsman in an ageing Australian Test team (every other member of the top six is 29 or above), it is critical to the Australians that Ricky Ponting becomes a consistently successful, and reliable, batsman. A great deal has been invested in his future, which is why the selectors are reticent to cast him aside lightly. Forgetting the potential captaincy issue, it's important he simply becomes Australia's premiere batsman in the next two years. Ponting's future lies either at No. 4, the position he will inherit when Mark Waugh retires, or in the influential No. 3 role if Justin Langer cannot hold the position for the rest of his natural batting life.

Interestingly, with the Ashes coming up, the last time Ponting was dropped was during the 1998/'99 home series against England. With Darren Lehmann scoring prolifically at domestic level and pressing for a Test place, Ponting felt the pressure on him to retain his spot and was dismissed several times walking into front-foot drives, making way for Lehmann after three Tests. He returned with a century against West Indies the following year and has managed to hold his spot ever since.

As experts like Ponting supporter Ian Chappell have noted, when out of form Ponting has a propensity to lunge onto the front foot against fast bowlers. While manifestly a technical issue it is also symptomatic of his prevalent mental state. Free from pressure, Ponting has looked in supreme touch during innings of 70 and 102 in the current NatWest series and technique has not been a factor, although it may be entirely different when the Tests arrive.

Cricket, we are told, is primarily a mental game, and mental strength is surely a skill developed over time. For a precocious talent whose potential was identified at an early age, Ponting can hardly be called a late bloomer, but in terms of attitude that could be exactly what he is. Fortunately time is on his side.

To compare him to the current stalwart and perpetual saviour of Australia's batting, the indomitable Steve Waugh, at Ponting's age Waugh had just been dropped from the Australian team, had 3 centuries, and a Test average of 37.45 from 44 Tests. That is ample proof of how rapidly the characteristics and perceptions of a player can change. Ponting has the opportunity to follow the same path and indeed Australia is depending on it.

Because he is expected to succeed Waugh as the future of Australia's batting, Ponting is unlikely to be dropped unless he is in such overwhelmingly poor form that there is no other option. In fact, along with Steve Waugh and now possibly Matthew Hayden, Ponting's batting place is probably the most secure in the Australian side. In Waugh's egalitarian team everybody is equal, but as George Orwell pointed out in Animal Farm, some are more equal than others. Ponting is one of those. Michael Slater and Justin Langer are not.

The enormous pressure exerted by Damien Martyn for a Test berth will be felt most keenly by Slater and Langer, not Ponting. Reputation-wise, Martyn is in the perfect position, for he has maximised his limited opportunities and will continue to be seen as a champion-in-waiting while out of the side. He may never be more highly regarded in his Test career than he is right now as a substitute. Martyn is no threat to Ponting, however, because to drop him for Martyn would be to simply reverse roles, with the older and less proven batsman becoming the incumbent. Logic dictates that should not happen, for it does nothing to benefit the future of Australia's batting.

At his best, Ponting is a supreme player of fast bowling, an outstanding exponent of the pull shot and a glorious driver. Thought to be one of Australia's best players of spin, India presented an intriguing challenge, one that he could not have failed more abjectly. It only took one dismissal against Harbhajan Singh to expose a previously unseen fragility in the confident Ponting. Now the Indian tour, with its questions over his ability against spinners, has been pushed to the back of the mind, to resurface at a later date when he is hopefully in a stronger mental state.

For now, England awaits. A Test batsman whose most recent series returned 17 runs at 3.4 would normally be under pressure to retain his place but England is such a different environment, in different circumstances, that no parallel can really be drawn between the two tours. In many ways Ponting enters the Ashes series with a clean slate, ready to be judged afresh. His career resumes with a reputation, either positive or negative, ready to be built once more.

If the one-dayers are any indication, and in most cases they are not, Ponting is back to normal against the type of bowling he clearly prefers. But only the Ashes can truly tell observers whether Ponting will resume his progression towards becoming one of the world's elite batsmen, or if there is yet more turbulence to be endured along the career path of one of Australia's most exciting but frustrating cricketers.

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