da lvbet： Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee spoke to the media after a challenging yet eventually rewarding day in the field
da 888casino： Dileep Premachandran at Kuala Lumpur22-Sep-2006
Brad Hogg shone with bat and ball: ‘He’s a pretty under-rated player for us. He’s done a verygood job for a long period of time now’ © Getty Images
Ricky Ponting said that he was more proud than relieved after Australiahad kept their nerve to emerge triumphant in yet another crunch game, andhe was effusive in his praise for the bowlers who delivered such tellingspells to script an 18-run victory.Though he was defending just 213, Ponting said that India’s early collapsehad given his team an edge that they never quite relinquished. “I thoughtwe were actually in the game for a fair bit of it to tell the truth,” hesaid, when asked if there had been a particular moment when he scentedvictory. “Though we hadn’t gotten the runs on the board, we got fourwickets quite early and if you looked at their team, you could realisethey had a fairly long tail with Ajit [Agarkar] batting where he was, andHarbhajan [Singh] after him.”We just needed another couple during the middle of the innings. I stillhad Brett [Lee] and Glenn [McGrath] and Stuey Clark up my sleeve, so I wasalways going to bring them back to hopefully finish things off. It was agood tight tussle right to the end, and Australia generally wins most ofthose contests.”The cockiness was tempered by the knowledge that it had been a close-runthing, with the pre-planned omissions of Michael Clarke and Shane Watsonappearing to be glaring ones halfway through the day. “It’s always nice tohave lots of options when you have a small total on the board but wedidn’t have that tonight. Brett and the rest of the guys were terrific. Wecovered the bases we were insufficient in. At the end of the day, it was avery good win. We’ve mixed and matched our teams, and we’ve won justenough games to make the final, as we always wanted to do.”There was unstinting praise for Lee, who finished with 5 for 38 whiledenting Indian chances with every spell he bowled. “I’ve said that I thinkhe’s the best one-day bowler,” he said. “It’s very rare that he doesn’tget wickets with the new ball. And you know that during the middle of theinnings, if you go back to someone with that sort of pace, it’s going tobe difficult for new guys starting against him. It’s just been a pleasurewatching the way he’s going about his work at the moment.”The Brads, Hogg and Haddin, who gave Australia hope with a quickfire77-run partnership, were also singled out. “That was a very good piece ofbowling,” he said, when asked about the manner in which Hogg had outfoxedSuresh Raina. “He’s a pretty under-rated player for us. He’s done a verygood job for a long period of time now. When he gets a chance, he does thejob and no one loves his cricket more. He was a vital cog in the chaintonight, the guy we were always going to have to go to for a breakthroughin the middle overs. He did it twice, and did well with the bat as well.”As for Haddin, Ponting said that his displays in the tournament hadrevealed that a future without Adam Gilchrist might not be so frighteningafter all. “We’ve known for a long time that Brad is a very goodcricketer,” he said. “In most other teams around the world, he’d haveplayed a lot more cricket. He’s just had to wait a long time behind Gilly.You’ve seen the way he’s batted and the way he’s kept. He’s going to be agreat replacement when Adam moves on.”The concerns centred on the batting, once again below par against adisciplined Indian attack. “The running wasn’t great either,” he said witha wry grin. “We’ve got to get a lot better before the final. The battinghasn’t been good. We’ve got out of jail a couple of times – Huss’s hundredthe other day, and Haddin’s been terrific at seven. The guys at the tophaven’t got in and got the runs.”Amid the euphoria, there was also some words of praise for Dinesh Mongia’sfine effort. “I think we always knew he was that sort of player, and theyneeded that sort at the top of their order. I wasn’t surprised when[Mohammad] Kaif came out when he did, and him [Mongia] as well. We knew hecould play, and he was very dogged. Losing wickets around him, it was upto him to stay and steer them through, and he nearly did that.”Lee was understandably thrilled with his five-for, which took histournament returns to 8 for 84 from just two games. “It’s always nice toget two early wickets,” he said. “With a man like Sachin Tendulkar outthere, it’s nice to chance your arm against the best. Along with Ricky[Ponting] and Brian [Lara], he’s the best going around, so I’m prettyhappy.It’s just my second chance. The way the sides have been picked, it’s givenall of us an opportunity to get back into it, and the body is feelinggood. It came out well tonight. Every spell I came up and bowled, I feltconfident, we had fantastic fields.”And though Glenn McGrath didn’t pick up any wickets, his tightfistedness -25 runs conceded from eight overs – played a big part in Lee’s success.”It’s always great to have Glenn back,” he said. “The figures speak forthemselves. Looking forward to the big final coming up on Sunday, the ICCTrophy and the Ashes as well, it’s a big summer, and hopefully one thatGlenn and I will be part of.”He also praised Ponting for his support during the lean years, when heexpended lots of energy in the nets without making it into the XI. “When Iwasn’t bowling well, he sat me down and put a couple of different ideas inmy head,” he said. “Thinking back to Brisbane a couple of years ago, hehad a really good chat with me. We look at Ricky as one for guidance.”As a member of the pace-bowling fraternity, he was also delighted by themanner in which Stuart Clark bounced back after a mauling in the lastgame. “I said after the last game, it’s unfortunate the way one-daycricket goes. He’s the kind of bowler who can turn around straightaway.He’s gone from a disappointing match to bowling fantastic. He bowled atgood pace, had a fantastic caught-and-bowled. That definitely changed hisgame.”
‘I didn’t actually see Sachin beingcalled back’ © Getty Images
And after walking a disciplinary tightrope in recent times, Ponting spenta couple of minutes having to answer questions about the Tendulkarincident that saw him exchange more than a few words with Mark Benson, whoreversed his caught-behind decision. “The umpire made his decision, andthen he reversed it. I think he actually got it right in the end. Heexplained the reason why. I wasn’t that happy at the time, but it was theumpire’s decision.”Ponting made it clear that he hadn’t approached the umpire to voice hisdispleasure. “I didn’t approach him, he called me over to explain why hehad changed his decision,” he said. “I didn’t actually see Sachin beingcalled back. I was in the middle of a group with the guys, and Mark wascalling me over to explain it.”He refused to accept that such controversial moments made a case for theincreased use of technology. “I’ve never been a great fan,” he saidcandidly. “We’ve experimented with a lot of things. The Super Test was onewhere the umpires could refer everything to the third umpire. There were afew that went either way. I think technology for line decisions, the wayit’s being used, is about as much as it should be used.”You have to understand that umpires are human and they will makemistakes. Much like the players – we probably make as many mistakes asanyone going around. I’m a big believer in leaving the human element in.”After his last transgression, Chris Broad, the match referee, hadsuggested that Ponting was on very thin ice. And but for the umpirestaking a benevolent view of his antics today, he might well have slippedunder. With the Champions Trophy and the Ashes looming, Australia canheave a sigh of relief that it hasn’t happened.
