Column

The first two Ashes Tests have turned the spotlight once again on the drama and delight of Test match cricket, but it is hardly likely that Ricky Ponting will be a wholehearted participant in the celebrations. One down already in the series, he now has to effect a spectacular turnaround if Australia are not to surrender cricket's most revered trophy.
Ponting surely knows this won't be easy. The past 18 months have been extremely difficult for him as captain, and this trend seems to be continuing into the Ashes contest. Indeed, Australia have lost six of the last 12 Tests they have played (2 v India, 3 v S Africa, 1 v England) against three wins (all against S Africa). This suggests something more than just loss of luck or a simple lean trot.

For instance, look at the sudden turnaround in the performance of his team in this series alone. England barely managed to eke out a draw in the first Test, but everybody still expected Australia to win the series. In the second Test, though, everything went topsy-turvy as England won emphatically while Australia looked — for the most part — as if they had forgotten how to bat, bowl and field.

Such a sudden dip in form is understandable if it is very, very temporary — unless, of course, the team is very, very bad. That Australia happen to be the number one side in the world makes their roller-coaster ride over the last couple of seasons even more intriguing. Is this a team in major decline, or just going through some hard times temporarily?

True, Ponting's task has been made extremely difficult because of the loss of several key players who had made Australia almost invincible in the past 10-12 years. McGrath, Warne, Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Gillespie and Martyn would have been hard acts to replace for any team at any point in the history of the game: that they should have all gone within two years has made it a dire situation, even given the strength of Australia's domestic cricket.

Of the two match-winners Ponting was still left with, Brett Lee has struggled for almost a year with injuries and Andrew Symonds with several problems — some real, some imaginary. Add to this young Mitchell Johnson's sudden loss of form which may or may not have its genesis in a highly-publicised running feud with his mother, and Ponting's plight is compounded several times over.

But perhaps the more significant change from the past is in how the Australian team is perceived nowadays. The 'fear factor' which they used to inflict on rival teams has all but vanished; they are now tackled by almost all teams on level terms. That is a big psychological downer, especially for Ponting, who has been part of a champion side from the time he made his debut.

This first became evident in the series against India in 2007-08, then South Africa more than matched them punch-for-munch in two back-to-back series, and England now have them on the back-foot in a series that Ponting is perhaps eager to win than any he has played in.

Can he do it? The statistics are still dauntingly in his favour, but the usual Aussie swagger seems somewhat muted this time. To come out of this hole would require tremendous self-belief and strength of character. Indeed, if Australia can win the Ashes from here, Test cricket would have received its biggest fillip since the first match was played in 1877.