Ponting is having the time of his life

This is Ashes year. Series defeats to South Africa in the long and short forms of the game were unpalatable enough. The prospect of further slippage against the Poms has heightened anti-Ponting sentiment. A winning percentage (68), second only to Steve Waugh, a century count (37), second only to Sachin Tendulkar, afford nil protection, writes Kevin Garside in the Telegraph.

Put away those tears. Ponting has softened, not weakened. There is no sense of a cricketer in decline or one in whom desire might be fading. Matthew Hayden's retirement lumped his team further down the evolutionary line. Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist have all gone. Temporarily in abeyance with injury are Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Andrew Symonds.

A rational mind might weigh the claims of a Sydney mansion and the golf clubs against the opprobrium of an ungrateful nation and reach the sane conclusion. Instead, Ponting says bring it on. "It's a big career challenge to turn this round. It is not going to happen overnight either. But I was really proud of the way the guys performed against South Africa even though we went down 2-1 in the Tests. The public is so used to seeing us win. It must seem all doom and gloom. But there have been enough positives for me to remain upbeat about what we are doing and where we are going."