It’s been painful watching the Australian cricket team wobble from greatness to patheticness (is that a word?!) during this Ashes series.
Their loss in this final game was easily predictable, given the interviews Ponting was giving in the press before the game. He apparently had the game won before they even stepped on the field, and I thought to myself as I read some of this stuff last, that I just couldn’t understand the tack he was taking in the media. It’s one thing to be confident, but it’s another to be cocky. The line is a fine one, but cockiness will kill you every time.
I haven’t had time to properly reflect on it, but there’s obviously some big leadership lessons in this, and it is probably one of the key differences (in my mind) that separates Ponting from Waugh, who I believe was the greatest cricket captain perhaps in history, not only because of the way he led teams to victory, but also the way in which he reinvigorated Australian Test cricket with the traditions and history that fuel a game like this.