Ricky Ponting has revealed details of a “bruising” argument between Australia’s past and present players over safety concerns in the lead up to this year’s IPL. In February, Ponting was adamant that those signed up for the Twenty20 event should follow the recommendations of security advisor Reg Dickason, but former internationals such as Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne were opposed to the move.
“Our meeting became a somewhat bruising one, as I learned that the environment in which we have grown up as Australian cricketers has changed somewhat with the emergence of the IPL,” he wrote in his diary The Captain’s Year.
“Formerly, it was always ‘one in, all in’ but now not all of us play for the same team, and that created a situation where I, representing those still playing international cricket, argued that we should all respect the warnings.”
By then Ponting had been paid out of his contract with Kolkata but still wanted to protect his men. In the end the tournament went off without any problems and no players boycotted, but Ponting was ruffled by the exchange.
“I left the meeting annoyed that we wouldn’t be confronting this security situation with as close to a single voice as possible, and hoping that next time we face a major issue we can confront it as one, like we did in days gone by, rather than be split by competing interests.” (Cricinfo)
