Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Ricky Ponting has declared Glenn Maxwell won’t play in another World Cup for Australia, while also denying that his generation of players took any glee from the national team’s early elimination from the global Twenty20 tournament.
Running his eye over the Australian campaign as a whole, though the Australians still have one game to go against Oman, Ponting said the surprise defeat to Zimbabwe was where things came unstuck.
Is it lights out for Glenn Maxwell at World Cups?Credit: Getty Images
“It’s been a really poor campaign, it has to be said,” Ponting told the ICC website overnight. “They had some injury concerns at the start with [Josh] Hazlewood and [Pat] Cummins being ruled out and then Tim David not available right at the start as well.
“But I think just losing to Zimbabwe like they did, that’s going to be the game that they’re going to think back and think like that’s our World Cup gone, there and then.
“I think looking at the pool before the start of the tournament, I felt Sri Lanka would be difficult to beat at home and that’s certainly the way it turned out. But to think that Zimbabwe outplayed Australia in an ICC event, it’s those opportunities that you can’t afford to give up in a tournament like this.”
Ponting knows what it’s like to lose to Zimbabwe at a World Cup, having experienced the sensation at the very first T20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. Looking ahead to 2028 and the Cup to be played on home soil, Ponting said he could not see Maxwell getting there.
“Glenn Maxwell, I don’t think will be there,” Ponting said. “I think it looks to me like his career is coming towards an end. Marcus Stoinis would also probably be a question mark, but he’s predominantly playing only T20 cricket tournaments around the world these days. Doesn’t play a lot of state cricket and obviously plays the BBL, so with his all-round ability, he might be there.
“I think Mitchell Marsh will probably hang on long enough for that and I think Travis Head will definitely be around and Inglis will be around. Steve Smith has been very vocal about him wanting to be a part of an Olympic team as well. Whether or not that happens is a different story.”
There have been various flashpoints between the current Australian side and past players over the past five years, ever since Justin Langer’s exit as coach in early 2022. But Ponting denied there was any enjoyment being expressed about the Cup result in WhatsApp groups he was a part of.
“There’s just little areas that you have to win that Australia haven’t been able to win,” he said. “As a past player and these WhatsApp groups that we’re on, we certainly don’t sit back and bash the current players or talk about them in a negative way when they don’t win.
Ricky Ponting and Steve Smith after the pair collided while going for a catch in the 2011 World Cup.Credit: AP
“We just want to see our team do well. So, unfortunately, that hasn’t happened over the last couple of weeks. And that’s something that group of players has to live with.”
Ponting added that Cameron Green’s lack of substantial performances during the World Cup was a considerable worry from Australia after so much investment had been made in the tall all-rounder.
“You look at that Australian team on paper, it just doesn’t look to have that sort of aura around it that a lot of other Australian teams have going into ICC events and World Cups.
“You need to have your best players and your most experienced players standing up and winning big moments for you in these tournaments if you want to go ahead and win and Australia haven’t had that.”
