When did Sir Alex Ferguson take over the running of the Aussie cricket team? I must have been out on the day Tim Nielsen got the boot and Ferguson swapped Old Trafford for the Aussie sunshine.
The sight of Ricky Ponting and Peter Siddle, two of the people with not the greatest view of what happened, challenging not just the standing umpire, but also the square leg umpire and the technology for good measure, was more reminiscent of what goes on every week in football, it was disgraceful.
The whole scene was incredible. The bowler didn’t appeal, Shane Watson at 1st slip didn’t even bother to appeal, just the mouthy Brad Haddin apparently saw something. What, I don’t know.
Ponting was out of order, while Aleem Dar conducted himself properly. Dar went well beyond the call of duty in his efforts to explain to Ponting what had happened.
I like Ricky Ponting, he is a top quality batsman who has had a great career. There is a debate over his qualities as a captain, I have always thought that a lot of the criticism he gets is unjust, but I think this incident adds some substance to those calls that question his judgement.
It smacked off desperate actions from desperate men.
