Clarke admits role in Ponting’s ouster

Australia captain hopes decision will not harm their friendship.

HOBART: Australian captain Michael Clarke has admitted he was partly responsible for the sacking of former skipper Ricky Ponting from the One-Day International (ODI) squad.             

Clarke is a member of the five-man selection group that ended Ponting’s ODI career after deciding they needed to plan for the limited-overs team’s future. The captain said that the decision was a tough one but that Ponting remained a ‘huge part of the Test team’.

“I’m 100% part of the selection panel — that’s part of the captain’s job now,” said Clarke. “We’ve made this decision as a panel. It’s tough not having the great Ponting out there playing ODIs for us but that’s the decision we’ve made.”

Clarke hoped that his part in the former captain’s axing would not harm their relationship.

“Ponting was captain for a long time and although he wasn’t a selector, he played a big part in selecting the playing-eleven. I remember getting dropped after a Test match and he was the one who came and told me I hadn’t been selected. He knows it’s not personal. I’m very confident our friendship is a lot stronger than that.”

Australia play their first match after Ponting’s ouster against Sri Lanka today and Clarke said that playing the game without the former captain would feel different.

“He’s going to be missed. I’ve played a lot of ODIs with him and it’s going to feel weird looking around the field and not seeing him there.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2012.