The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : More pressure on Ponting, says Border

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More pressure on Ponting, says Border

SYDNEY: Former Australian captain Allan Border said on Monday that he did not face as much pressure while leading a struggling side as current skipper Ricky Ponting does now.

Border was at the helm of the national team for 93 Tests between 1984 and 1994, a period when Australian cricket was in the doldrums. Ponting, meanwhile, has been at the forefront of one of the most successful cricketing eras the country has experienced.

But Border, who was known as “Captain Grumpy”, said he would rather face the menacing West Indies bowling attacks of the 1980s than deal with the strains Ponting has been confronting this season in the acrimonious Test and one-day series against India.

“I’d take on Joel Garner any day of the week,” said Border, who reluctantly accepted the Australian captaincy when Kim Hughes resigned in tears in December 1984 after a series drubbing from the West Indies.

“It’s what we were trained to do and probably felt more comfortable doing. But all the argy-bargy that goes on in cricket now, just the constant flow of that type of pressure, I’d take the West Indies any day over that,” Border said. — AFP

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