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| Sunday, 17 February 2002 |
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Ponting promises aggressive style as Australia's new one-day leader SYDNEY, Feb 16 (AFP) - Ricky Ponting promised an aggressive, open style of leadership after he was appointed Australia's new one-day international captain on Saturday in place of Steve Waugh. The 27-year-old top-order batsman received a phone call at dawn in the Australian team hotel in Potchefstroom, near Johannesburg, to tell him he would take over from Waugh, who was dumped officially on Wednesday, just before the team left for South Africa. Adam Gilchrist will retain the vice-captaincy role while Shane Warne has missed out altogether and looks as if he will never become national captain. Warne, Gilchrist and Ponting were the contenders for Waugh's one-day job but the national selection panel recommended the Tasmanian captain, who now has the inside running on leading Australia's World Cup defence in Africa in 12 months' time. "When I got the call I was absolutely over the moon and honoured to be passed down this job as Australian captain," Ponting told Australian Associated Press in Potchefstroom Saturday. "It was a fairly restless night. Each of the candidates knew we were going to get a call at sometime this morning and, of the three, I thought I was the least likely. "Gilly (Gilchrist) has been around and has been vice-captain for a number of years and done a fantastic job and I thought he would slip into the captain's job. Luckily, it's me." Ponting will take over on March 22 when Australia plays the first of seven one-day internationals against South Africa before heading to Zimbabwe for another three limited-over matches. The right-handed batsman has served a long apprenticeship, which hasn't been without its problems, including a drunken incident in a Sydney nightspot after a day-night international match there four seasons ago. But Ponting insisted he had since matured as a person and a cricketer and would have the respect of his teammates after 131 one-day matches and 53 Tests. He has always been a fierce competitor and he promised to maintain that attitude when he became Australia's 16th one-day skipper. "I would like to continue playing aggressive, attacking cricket and be very open with my teammates," Ponting said. "With the bowlers, I'll be more likely to give them the fielding positions they want rather than being too strong-minded. "That's the relationship I would like to have. As this tour goes on we'll sit down and hopefully have a chat with Stephen (Waugh) and Buck (coach John Buchanan) and the other senior players to find out where we're heading." Ponting was not in favour of any major changes after Australia failed to make the finals of its home triangular series against South Africa and New Zealand this month. He was Australia's leading run-scorer in the series, leading to him being named the country's one-day international cricketer of the year. "(We have to improve) the standard of our play. There is nothing wrong in our side and as a captain you're judged by how many wins you get out of the side you've got on the park," Ponting said. "I think we should be winning a lot more games than we lose. "I think pretty well about the game and understand it pretty well. The last couple of years I think I've matured a lot as a cricketer and as a person so everyone around recognises and notices that." While Ponting's star was on the rise, Warne's appeared on the wane. The 32-year-old champion leg-spinner has captained Australia 11 times but off-field incidents have damaged his leadership prospects. Steve Waugh maintains the Test captaincy for the three-match series against South Africa ahead of the one-dayers. |
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