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Waugh tells Ponting to move ahead

Melbourne: Steve Waugh has suggested that Australian skipper Ricky Ponting stop defending his actions on the India tour, and concentrate on the Test series against New Zealand at home. The former skipper advised the incumbent captain to leave behind the bad memories of the India tour and move on.

“Ricky now needs to draw a line through the Nagpur Test and get the spring back in his step. If he continues to defend his actions, his mind will be distracted and his team vulnerable to attack from sides now sensing a fragility not seen since the mid-1980s,” Waugh wrote in his column for The Daily Telegraph.

Waugh also defended Allan Border with whom Ponting is in a cold war, saying the legendary skipper hardly indulges in criticism and he was just expressing his opinion as an expert when he questioned Ponting’s tactics.

“Anyone and everyone has had his say but when former and current captains lock horns, it’s always going to create extra interest.

“I can see both points of view but know there’s only ever going to be one winner — the guy with the microphone or the computer.

“As such, Ricky needs to move on and let it go, even though it’s probably eating away at him,” he wrote.

“In Allan Border you have a man who rarely hands out criticism but he obviously felt Rick’s tactics were wrong and, as a journalist, he has an obligation to provide an opinion.

“I also know that, as a high-profile player, you tend to live in a somewhat cocooned world, hold on to negative criticism and think everyone is against you at times,” Waugh added.

Ponting faced severe criticism from all quarters for handing the ball to part-time slow bowlers during the India’s second innings in the Nagpur Test to raise the over-rate and save himself from a one-match ban. — PTI

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