To be or not to be? Australian, that is

With the Gabba Test just a day away, it's traditionally the time when Australian cricket fans turn their minds away from their winter football passions and begin a summer of cricket analysis, dissecting the fortunes of the national cricket team at backyard bbq's. What I've been hearing recently is a genuine 'identity crisis' in some senses. What does the baggy green stand for? Is it a highly prized reward for the best 11 cricketers in the land? Is it a national institution? Does the right to wear the cap belong to a great player or has the Australian Way always been about the team superseding the individual, regardless of his 'greatness'?

Let's start with the Ricky Ponting dilemma; one of the all-time greats nearing the end of an illustrious career. Should he go gracefully or keep fighting for his spot? Monitoring talkback radio, internet blogs and sports magazine shows on TV, I sensed a strong push towards giving him the push. It's almost a back-handed compliment to Ponting in that the masses don't want to see him get to the point where he is dropped on form. They want to remember their champion batsman as exactly that - a magnificent warrior who walked off the stage with people still wishing he had one more innings left in him.

I'm in two schools about Ponting's situation. One part of me admires the fact that he seems to just love playing cricket and wants to keep doing it for as long as he can. Good on him if that is his motivation for refusing to hang up his boots. If he still genuinely loves strapping on the pads and walking out to bat, I admire him for refusing to let anyone else's agenda overrule his sheer love for the game. It will be interesting to see if that love only extends to playing for Australia or whether he might eventually choose to drop down a level and play Shield cricket. After all, there are talented youngsters in Tasmania too who will benefit from having a player of his calibre in the dressing room.

Is it cricket that he loves or cricket for Australia? I can relate to his sheer love of the game. When I stopped playing at my highest level, there was no question that I would hang up my boots. I've continued to slip down the grades to where some would argue I rightfully belong. I simply love playing cricket and I realise I'll be retired a long time so I'm going to keep playing at any level until the body physically refuses to co-operate. It doesn't particularly worry me that I'm not scoring big hundreds or bowling at the same speeds. For me, it's not about how good I am but how much I genuinely love the game. Z Grade here I come. Is Ponting of the same ilk I wonder?

The other part of me wonders why such a great player would want to carry on when he hears all the carping? Does he really want to push his luck to the point where he meets his fate on the end of a sword? It might seem undignified to some people but there's also a certain element of noble warrior mentality in that attitude. He fought his way into the team and he'll keep fighting to his last breath, accepting the coup de grace in that inevitably brave way that the old alpha male lion finally walks away from his pride of lionesses.

Does Ponting have a definite date or statistical figure in mind or is he just going to let Nature have her way and keep fighting until he is usurped? I'm not brave enough to predict that the runs will dry up this summer for Ponting. He is too good a player (even still) and I don't rate the quality of the opposition bowling attacks this summer. New Zealand are brave as always but their fast-bowling attack lacks venom. India are a fabulous batting unit but I don't their quicks will pose any significant threat on Australian pitches, especially if they lose Ishant Sharma to the inevitable injury halfway through the tour. So we're not going to necessarily be able to judge Ponting on form alone this summer because he will most probably peel off a big score at some point. Which then begs the question…what will be the trigger for his retirement? Or is he waiting for the trigger?

The other big issue has been the Mickey Arthur saga. I've heard a lot of people who are appalled that a non-Australian is coaching our cricket team. I must confess that I don't share their horror. It's a professional game and national pride is no longer what it used to be. Cricket Australia concede as much when they allow (force?) players to fulfill IPL commitments ahead of Test-match preparations. So what's the problem with choosing the best man for the job, irrespective of his passport? Australian coaches have been coaching foreign teams and we have no such uneasiness when that happens so why is our national team so special? Some of our biggest and most iconic national corporate brands are headed up by foreigners. Qantas, the so-called Australian airline, has an Irishman in charge. One of our biggest mining companies, BHP Billiton has a South African-born chap extracting Australian minerals from the ground and selling it to China and India. So what's so special about the Australian cricket team? Some of our greatest cricketers in recent times have walked away from the national side and then continued to plunder riches in the IPL. Clearly they still love playing the game but only when there's big money involved. Otherwise, why not keep playing Shield cricket or grade cricket and pass on the legacy?

It promises to be a summer of utter contrast. The dawn of new careers and the end of some great ones. I'm going to savour watching Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman for the last time on Australian soil. They have all scored great hundreds in this country and despite their age, I think that the Australian bowling attack will still allow them to give us one last show. It's a rare time when a few of the all-time batting greats will all be playing in the twilight of their careers so it's a wonderful opportunity to contrast their styles and methods. Mind you, the way Dravid and Tendulkar keep churning out the runs, maybe I'm writing their epitaph a bit too soon!