Stani Army

As Mohammed Aamer dismissed Ricky Ponting on day one of the first Test at Lord’s, there was a coming together of the two players which may be brushed off as just nothing by some. But, here on Stani Army, it does rile us when the spirit of cricket is not upheld and especially in the MCC Spirit of Cricket series. The manner in which Shane Warne tried to justify Ponting’s actions on commentary was disgraceful but it was to be expected. Had it not been for the camera angle from behind Ponting, we would not have clearly seen Ponting put out his elbow as Aamer ran past. Then Ponting’s got the nerve to complain to the umpire when he walks off? Yet there is the old tactic of influencing the umpire, something which Shane Warne can tell you all about as influencing the umpire was one of his variations along with the leg-break, the top spinner and the flipper.

Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson demonstrate their childishness

Ponting was clearly frustrated at not being able to get bat on to ball as Aamer mesmerized, yet Ponting could learn a great deal from his vice-captain Michael Clarke, who clashed with Aamer in the 2nd Twenty20 but accepted Aamer’s apology with good grace. Whilst Ponting has built himself a certain reputation in cricket, there is a side to him that is not so immendiately obvious. Back in December 2009 when Chris Gayle and Shane Watson had their falling out

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Having found their mojo again, Pakistan must now switch their attention to the form of the game that they’ve underachieved in the most, Test Cricket. We knew we were good at Twenty20, we knew we would give Australia a game, so though we can take some confidence from the 2-0 series win into the Tests, it is important that the players to make the mental and technical switch to the longer form.

The batting concerns were highlighted previously and it was good to see that more batsmen chipped in today although no one went on and accelerated to a 50+ score. The worry is that these batting frailties will be highlighted even more so in the Test matches, with Pakistan, unlike Australia, going in to the Tests with a very similar line-up to their Twenty20 side.

The final word must go to Michael Clarke for the manner in which he held himself together after Aamer collided with him upon his dismissal. It would have been very easy for Clarke to make more of it but he accepted Aamer’s apology and carried on walking. Had it been someone like Watson, or even Tait, who seemed to couple the F-word with every

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