Ashes Win Vital For Ricky Ponting’s Captaincy Hopes

Ricky Ponting believes a third Ashes defeat is likely to signal the end of his time as Australia captain. Ponting, 35, was skipper of the teams beaten in England in 2005 and 2009.
If he lost this winter to Andrew Strauss’s team he would become the first Australia captain to lose three Ashes campaigns in more than 100 years.

And the brilliant batsman admitted in an interview on Friday: “I’d probably be looking for a new job if we lose again. It’s as simple as that.”Australian tradition dictates that former captains rarely remain in the side. However, that policy may be shelved should England win an Ashes series in Australia for the first time since 1986-87 and Michael Clarke subsequently take over as Aussie skipper. Ponting remains a world-class batsman, as he showed with a classy knock of 92 in Australia’s 78-run win over England in the fourth one-day international at The Oval on Wednesday.

And with Australia bidding for a fourth straight World Cup title in Asia in February, Ponting, one of the outstanding batsmen of his generation, is unlikely to be axed should he wish to remain as a player.

Ponting told the Daily Mail: “I’ve got the biggest eight months of my career coming up. We are playing India, then England and then the World Cup.”