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Michael Clarke or Ricky Ponting - Who was the better captain?

Hasan123

Hasan123

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In terms of batting this comparison is not even close. Ponting is clearly the superior batter. But when it comes to captaincy I think it's closer than people think.

Ponting may have won a lot of trophies and had a lot of series win, but for me Clarke was a brilliant tactican and also got the best out of a weak Australian team under his tenure. Ponting was also good tactically but I think Clarke was better . Although Ponting was probably a better man manager as Clarke did have issues with some players during his tenure.


So who would you say is the better captain?

I'll go with Pup.

Discuss....
 
I'm a massive fan off both.

Clarke. No question, Ponting left Australian cricket in a bit of a mess and Clarke paid the price for it. Ponting had an exceptional team there for him.

Pup built his own team, bought them back up from a disastrous tour of India in 2013 and retired as a captain with a 5-0 Ashes win in Tests and a ODI World Cup.
 
zarar said:
I'm a massive fan off both.

Clarke. No question, Ponting left Australian cricket in a bit of a mess and Clarke paid the price for it. Ponting had an exceptional team there for him.

Pup built his own team, bought them back up from a disastrous tour of India in 2013 and retired as a captain with a 5-0 Ashes win in Tests and a ODI World Cup.
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Um, no. Clarke retired after losing the Ashes in 2015 in England, after his team boasted earlier than England wouldnt have a chance. Overall, he lost two Ashes in England and was whitewashed in UAE and India. Yes, he won series in SA and Sri Lanka, but his away record is not that great. He did well at home though but still lost to SA.

I will say that Ponting was a better man manager than Pup. The team environment under the latter was described as 'toxic' by Mitchell Johnson. Remember homeworkgate?
 
Ponting. One of the great captains of the game who would have done just as well with a weaker team. I can't say I was the biggest fan of Clarke because of the behind-the-scenes issues that ensued under his captaincy and because of how some of his teammates described his character as captain.
 
zarar said:
I'm a massive fan off both.

Clarke. No question, Ponting left Australian cricket in a bit of a mess and Clarke paid the price for it. Ponting had an exceptional team there for him.

Pup built his own team, bought them back up from a disastrous tour of India in 2013 and retired as a captain with a 5-0 Ashes win in Tests and a ODI World Cup.
Click to expand...

It's virtually useless to compare the achievements of Ponting and Clarke since Ponting is arguably the most successful captain in the history of the game. And Clarke damaged the side far greatly from within. If you hear what Johnson, Watson, Symonds etc. have to say about him you'll get an idea of his character as both a person and a player.

His fight with Simon Katich is already very well-known.
 
Clarke. I saw enough of both and followed closely. Ponting may be a better man manager, but Clarke was better as captaining the side and took some really good decisions.
 
Tactically Clarke was miles ahead. I didn't rate Ponting as a skipper. McWarne made him look good.
 
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This is one of those questions that is a bit unfair on Ponting, we will never truly know how Ponting would have captained a weaker side. Can't just go of assumptions. Ponting was a gun captain still even with world class players around him, he still commanded respect from them. One only gets that if he is that good. Same situation vica versa with Clarke.

If I had to absoleutely pick between the two, I would go with Ponting.
 
Ponting won three world cups with Australia. Clarke only 1. Ponting played a match winning knock in the one of the finals, Clarke didn't

Ponting anyday
 
Lol at people calling Clarke a good tactician, the guy was clueless in the UAE.

Ponting was poor tactically, he benefited immensely from having a gun side and his captaincy was exposed once the gun players left but his man management skills were much better. Clarke based on his history may have failed to keep harmony in that Gun squad from 1998-2007
 
Clarke was one of the greatest tacticians to ever play. He was brilliant. He made an ordinary bowler like Lyon look like a major threat. His management of Harris and Johnson couldn't have been better.
 
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Chief Destroyer said:
Clarke was one of the greatest tacticians to ever play. He was brilliant. He made an ordinary bowler like Lyon look like a major threat. His management of Harris and Johnson couldn't have been better.
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Agreed. His capatincy in the 2013/2014 ashes was fantastic.
 
Pointing was way superior with man management also did achieve alot more then PuP.
Clark I fell was chicken hearted who retired too early and left the team in a mess. Australia is way to lucky to have such a strong domestic structure that they did manage to fill uo the gap somewhat.
Also pointing was respected alot more then pup ever was within australian cricket circle.
 
todfod 11 said:
Pointing was way superior with man management also did achieve alot more then PuP.
Clark I fell was chicken hearted who retired too early and left the team in a mess. Australia is way to lucky to have such a strong domestic structure that they did manage to fill uo the gap somewhat.
Also pointing was respected alot more then pup ever was within australian cricket circle.
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The view in Australia is the complete opposite - Clarke's back was so bad that he was a complete liability on the ground and he should have retired about a year earlier.
 
They both went on too long. It's strange as the Aussies usually retire at their peak (Lillee, Chappell, Border) or are dropped when they still have gas in the tank (Jones, Healey).
 
Robert said:
They both went on too long. It's strange as the Aussies usually retire at their peak (Lillee, Chappell, Border) or are dropped when they still have gas in the tank (Jones, Healey).
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He was only 34 so it's understandable. Compare that to Pakistan where 30 year olds are considered youngsters.:azhar2
 
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