Australians are like women. Both love pink. You can see Australia wearing pink arm-bands in tests, though it's for a noble cause. At the same time, they show no sentiment or regret in giving the pink slip to it's players however legendary he might be.
Though, as I write this, Ricky Thomas Ponting has not yet retired from any form of cricket, it is safe to assume that he has been shown the pink slip by the selectors. And the announcement is due in the near future.
37 might not be the age you'd want to be at when playing, but the quality of players I have grown up watching has disproved that completely. Ponting is the Australian example. The very fact that he remained in the test squad despite a string of poor run as batsman and post-captaincy is enough to convey his greatness to the Australian team as none among Border, Taylor or Waugh managed to do that.
Across the ocean, Ponting might not have many fan clubs. But he is the best Australian batsman I have seen play the game. Bradman might be their Don, but there are only statistics and articles on him. Bradman's is a legend based on numbers. Ponting's is numbers plus style. There are few who play the pull shot as convincingly as him. There are few who drive the ball with such high back-lifts. There are few who lift the ball straight over the bowler so nonchalantly. Forget the shots. There are very few who leave the ball so beautifully in cricket.
It is a pity to see a man who led his team in his previous match, who led his team to 2 consecutive world cup triumphs, who is their highest run-getter, get dropped for poor form. Statistically yes. His run has been poor. But as the cliche goes, isn't class permanent? The last test series against in India proved the cliche. He had lost his No. 3 spot. He had lost his captaincy. There was only one thing he could depend on, trust on. Himself. The batsman in him that was 20 years of international age. And the trust paid. The double century and the century couldn't have been timed better. Still, Australia just drop him overnight? How long can they continue to be as hard-hearted? Now the era in ODI's is beyond Ponting. Perhaps tests too. Now I don't see Australia softening in the near future.
Technically and on paper, Australians are being professional. No room for inconsistency. But once the player gets close to the people's hearts, I wonder how the selectors get brave enough for this. This is a situation unimaginable in India though it is on the verge of happening. But as Ravi Shasthri might say, all good things have to come to an end. The sun is definitely setting on the Golden era of cricket.
The West Indian in me cried after the 2007 World cup. If there was an Australian in me, I'd be in a state of mourning now.
