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[Nickauger]

Bradman was a (No Swearing Please) as well but that doesn't preclude him from being a great of the game. No one has said Ponting isn't a great player. A legend of the game? Well, maybe, but only in the same way that Schumacher is a legend of F1. His legacy will always be tainted by the antics he got up to on the circuit as Pontings will be by his behaviour on the field. As for the whingeing...you're going to have to try harder than that. It's just a go-to little chirp the aussies use when they can't think of anything else to say.......

Good from you, very much a great of the game but very much a bit of a dislikeable character!

[PedalsMcgrew]

The more I think about it Ponting and Schumacher's careers are quite similar. Both disliked by their peers for their antics but both supremely talented, both once working for the best team then moving to an average one and both extending their careers for too long!

[joeylough]

The more I think about it Ponting and Schumacher's careers are quite similar. Both disliked by their peers for their antics but both supremely talented, both once working for the best team then moving to an average one and both extending their careers for too long!

 

[The_Bird]

Lets remember him for his talent;

http://youtu.be/jxOBg6EcJ78

I'd love him to play for a few years over here similar to what Langer did it Somerset.

[vividgreen]

Lets not forget about this blinder in the World Cup Final - a man for the big occassion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkfeqTG7MVs

[PedalsMcgrew]

Lets remember him for his talent;

A bit like the way we remember Peter Sutcliffe for his excellence as a lorry driver!  Sorry! Couldn't resist. He was a great batsman....really, he was 

[tim2000s]

Only if the english had a player of his calibre..........

..... they'd have lost the last two Ashes series...

[The_Bird]

A bit like the way we remember Peter Sutcliffe for his excellence as a lorry driver!  Sorry! Couldn't resist. He was a great batsman....really, he was 

I've got my cricket fan hat on, not my Aussie bashing hat on haha.

[vividgreen]

..... they'd have lost the last two Ashes series...

every hot streak needs to come to an end - how many years was it ?

Anyway the upcoming back to back series in 2013 are shaping up as a pearler......

[procricket]

Great player
Hard as nails

He taught England a few things about how to win and the manner

Thank you for that but your time has come

Goodbye legend

[cricketbadger]

Tendulkar's turn next, long overdue

Never liked Ponting, cos he was an aussie and abusive, but an outstanding player and competitor so got to respect him for that and a great career

[Manormanic]

Anyway the upcoming back to back series in 2013 are shaping up as a pearler......

Aye, they are - indeed, the closeness of standards between England, Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and (at home) India together with an up and coming West Indies side means there is a lot of very good Test cricket to be played over the next couple of years.  Every week seems to ebb and flow a bit in terms of how I read these series going...

At the moment, I make England favourites still; they have the stronger top order, keeper and spinners and a seam attack that is as good as Australia's strongest (and far more likely to actually turn up fit).  Against that, Australia have a potentially excellent middle order if they get their next selectoral decisions right - as you'll see below there is a hole in their batting that Hughes, Khawaja, Marsh, Quiney, Smith and Forrrest have not looked comfortable filling and I am really not sure who will be the chosen man.

How would they line up?  Possible as follows...

England - Cook, Root, Trott, Pietersen, Bell, Bairstow, Prior, Broad, Swann, Finn, Anderson with Compton, Bresnan, Meaker and Panesar in reserve
Australia - Warner, Cowan,  The Mystery Man, Clarke, Watson, M Hussey, Wade, Siddle, Pattinson, Lyon, Hilfenhaus with Another Batsman,  Cummings if fit, Starc and, if I were involved, Henriques

As for the much vaunted MM Combination XI, I don't think the following would attract much argument:
Alistair Cook
David Warner
Jonathan Trott
Kevin Pietersen
Michael Clarke
Shane Watson
Matt Prior
Graeme Swann
Peter Siddle
Steven Finn
James Anderson

So 7-4 to England...

[alba caerulea]

Haven't Somerset already signed Alviro P?

Give the guy some credit...... He is a legend in our life time, not a "legend in their own lunchtime" like most people are......

He might be a legend in Australia but as you have found out there are mixed opinions elsewhere

His behaviour was, at times, appalling for a national captain. His batting and fielding undeniably brilliant

[Kulli]

I think you'd have Hussey in there purely on current form, maybe Shunt Watson up to open and Ditch Warner 

[Manormanic]

I think you'd have Hussey in there purely on current form, maybe Shunt Watson up to open and Ditch Warner 

Possibly, though I don't rate Watson as a batsman alone and he struggles to open, bowl and stay fit...