Ponting voted player of the decade

[The_Right_Honourable_Brit]

http://www.cricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/current/story/443957.html

Ricky Ponting has been voted Player of the Decade by an overwhelming majority by a jury comprising former and current players and cricket writers.

Ponting got 60 points (a first-place vote fetched three points, a second place two, and third place one), 23 more than second-placed Jacques Kallis. Adam Gilchrist was ranked third (29 points), while positions four to seven went to Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne.

Ponting scored more runs and centuries in both forms of the game than any other batsman in the decade, and he was the only one to go past the 9000-mark in both Tests and ODIs. In 107 Tests between 2000 and 2009, he scored 9458 runs at 58.38, and 32 of his 38 centuries. Ponting and Kallis, along with Mohammad Yousuf, were the only batsmen to average more than 58 in Tests in the decade.

Ian Chappell, the former Australian captain who was part of the jury, said Ponting's ability to survive difficult periods and also counterattack successfully, made him the best batsman of the decade. New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said Ponting was the player of the decade "for his ability to dominate bowlers all across the world for such a long time".

Tony Greig, the former England captain, said there hadn't been a modern allrounder who produced as consistently with bat and ball as Kallis did. "Jacques Kallis has been Sobers-like in respect of his all-round contribution for South Africa."

 

[milomak]

i can agree with this

 

[stefan9]

Its a joke. Ponting may have scored more runs but kallis had the better average if you add that in with his bowling and catching and there's no way you should vote against him.

 

[killadoob]

What about being captain of aus? I am sure that trumps kallis's bowling and catching and i am sure ricky can catch as well.

 

[stefan9]

What about being captain of aus? I am sure that trumps kallis's bowling and catching and i am sure ricky can catch as well.

Major achievement being a succesfull captain when you have warne and mcgrath. Takes a genius to throw the ball to warnie and pigeon and tell them to bowl.

You can argue that ponting is batsmen of the decade but there is no way he can be player of the decade ahead of JK.

 

[Morgoth]

once again to many Aussies on the voting panel, Ponting's average isn't even that much better then Kallis's over the decade, Kallis gave the best all rounder performance. Ponting is only a marginal better batsman then Kallis.

 

[RanzB]

Ponting is a cake.

 

[stefan9]

once again to many Aussies on the voting panel, Ponting's average isn't even that much better then Kallis's over the decade, Kallis gave the best all rounder performance. Ponting is only a marginal better batsman then Kallis.

Actually kallis topped the decade batting averages. Punter scored more runs but JK had the slightly better average, 58.70 compared to 58.38.

http://www.sport24.co.za/Content/Cricket/EnglandinSA/3513/7baca33d41b448e386f0f40e2857b95d/31-12-2009-04-52/Kallis_tops_decade_averages

 

[I am Penguin]

Let me guess, The Auzzies made the selection?
JK/

 

[murraybiscuit]

love to hate the auzzies. he was a great player to watch.
i personally would have voted for murali.
there's only so many cover drives i can watch, but when it comes to 6 balls from that sri lankan, you know something's gonna happen every ball.

 

[Synaesthesia]

Actually kallis topped the decade batting averages. Punter scored more runs but JK had the slightly better average, 58.70 compared to 58.38.

True but then Ponting was far better in ODI's.

 

[stefan9]

True but then Ponting was far better in ODI's.

Not so. Ponting averaged 44.18 with a strikerate of 84 while JK averaged 47.05(no strikerate listed).

Also we are looking at player of the decade not batsmen. Kallis beat ponting statistically as a batsmen and knocks him out cold when it comes to bowling but the panel still shafts him in favor of ponting.

http://www.cricinfo.com/decadereview2009/content/story/440770.html

 

[OzzieCapie]

Let me guess, The Auzzies made the selection?
JK/

Probably not quite but with a bit of help;

As far as I can see the jury representation was:

Eng:9, Ind:9; Aus: 7; Pak: 4; SA: 3; NZ: 3; SL, Ban, WI one each

And that's after giving Tony Greig to SA, because he clerly voted that way

I thought a 'jury' was a equal representation of peers.

Its a f***ng joke. No matter that Ponting scored nearly 1000 more and was captain, the 200+ wickets plus being a frontline bowler in its own right in many series (being ranked quite high in bowling itself), plus being the leading ranked allrounder for many years, far outweighs it.

That's why even Ponting was surprised.

No matter that we have had Sobers, Botham, Dev, Hadlee et al...Kallis is a better all rounder than them.
What counts against him in the comparisons against greats, and the votes just taken is his personality and when he has performed.

If he was more flamboyant and more of his achievements were game winners and game breakers he would be much more acknowledged. Many still see him as a gatherer and self preserver...fairly or unfairly, entirely different debate.

As an aside, the way the game has moved in favour of batsmen, averages, totals and number of centuries, double, triples hve all skyrocketed (per game as well).
Last decade the surprise was Alex Stewart with most runs at 6500.
The one just gone has Ponting nearly breaking 10,000 (mid decade it was Kallis leading at over 1,000/yr and most likely) and a few others over 8,000.

 

[stefan9]

No matter that we have had Sobers, Botham, Dev, Hadlee et al...Kallis is a better all rounder than them.
What counts against him in the comparisons against greats, and the votes just taken is his personality and when he has performed.

If he was more flamboyant and more of his achievements were game winners and game breakers he would be much more acknowledged. Many still see him as a gatherer and self preserver...fairly or unfairly, entirely different debate.

To be fair to Kallis he was only one man of the match award away from Ponting during the last decade, that's test and odi's combined. So that perception is again wrong. But I agree with the flomboyance and personality being held against him.

 

[rsifan]

Kallis is a lazy batsman! Ponting all the way!!

 

[Willie Trombone]

Its a joke. Ponting may have scored more runs but kallis had the better average if you add that in with his bowling and catching and there's no way you should vote against him.

Yep, but he has captained the worlds most successful side... can't deny him that. Poor Kallis has had to play with a side that blows hot and cold, unfortunately cold when it really counts. Hate to say it but Aussies are the best cricketing nation by a long mile and Ponting deserves it.

 

[Willie Trombone]

love to hate the auzzies. he was a great player to watch.
i personally would have voted for murali.
there's only so many cover drives i can watch, but when it comes to 6 balls from that sri lankan, you know something's gonna happen every ball.

+1 - Shane Warne included, again - as much as I hate to say it... you know when a bowler makes a game (where the main aim is to hit a ball with a stick) really exciting, he is good.

 

[rezabz]

Ponting se . . . . . JK deserved this more than him. JK is an all-rounder. The award was suppose to be given to the CRICKETER of the decade, not BATSMAN of the decade.

 

[killadoob]

Surely people that bat are considered cricketers, same with bowlers or am i mistaken?

 

[The_Pumpkin_King]

Good decision, how could they ever give it to Kallis? the guy chokes more often than not in big games.

their batting is pretty much the same, Ponting is a way better fielder than Kalis, Kallis can bowl but then Ponting is captain with 2 World Cups and an ICC champions under his belt

How is this even a competition?