Calls for Ricky Ponting to relinquish his captaincy in the wake of Australia's Ashes series loss to England are "completely unfair", Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland said on Monday. Australia's 197-run loss in the deciding fifth test at the Oval on Sunday gave England a 2-1 victory in the pulsating series, and made 34-year-old Ponting only the second captain to lose twice in England since Billy Murdoch in the 19th century.
Ponting, who averaged 48 with the bat for the series, told reporters in England on Sunday he expected to come under scrutiny on his return home, after the defeat also stripped Australia of its number one status in test rankings. "I think that's completely unfair," Sutherland told reporters in Melbourne, when asked about the calls in Australia for Ponting to lose the captaincy.
"Of course, we like to win and we'd prefer to win but as well we want to be proud of players who we know have given their all and I thought that Ricky held himself very well in the difficult situation of losing the Ashes," he added. Ponting has led a side that is rebuilding since the retirements of bowlers Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and wicket-keeper batsman Adam Gilchrist in the past two years, resulting in three series defeats in its past five test series.
Sutherland, however, said the organisation was well aware the team was rebuilding. "I don't think Cricket Australia is under any illusions as to where this team is at," Sutherland said. "We're definitely in a rebuilding phase after losing some of the best players to ever play cricket for Australia. "What you get with a young and relatively inexperienced team is some ebbs and flows in performance and we saw a little bit of that in the Ashes series." Sutherland also defended Australia's selection panel, after former players criticised selectors for failing to pick a specialist spinner for the Oval test on a sun-baked pitch that showed turn from day one.
"We've lost the game by 200 runs, it's a pretty significant defeat, and having a spinner in the side wouldn't have helped us in the first innings where we were bowled out for 160 and effectively lost the game," he said. "I don't think that in any way we can hold the selectors accountable for us losing the Ashes. At the end of the day the players go out and do the business on the field. "For now, we lick our wounds and we really look forward to the oppo (opportunity) in 2010/11, which promises to be another huge summer."