Critics ask for Ponting's head, skipper puts up brave front

Australia suffered its third successive Test defeat after losing the series 0-2 against India.

First it was spin legend Shane Warne, who questioned Ponting's captaincy and now former paceman Geoff Lawson has urged the Australian selectors to remove Ponting from the top job.

Lawson, who also coached Pakistan, said Australia should follow India's example of letting Sachin Tendukar focus on batting rather than burden him with captaincy.

Lawson strongly feels that it's time that Michael Clarke be given the reins of the team.
"I mean he's now lost five series, it may be time to say, 'Look mate, we've got Michael Clarke ready to go with a nice fresh young mind. He can be the captain and you focus on your batting and try to restore yourself to the level we know you're capable'," Lawson said.

"Ricky's still batting reasonably - he got two scores of 70 in (the last) Test match. The difference is that Tendulkar got a couple of hundred and then backed it up with a 50-odd not out, and obviously he can focus on those big scores (without the burden of being skipper).

"You've got to look at the way Ponting is batting and think, 'Mentally, he can't concentrate for long enough'," Lawson told ABC Radio. Lawson's comments came after Warne blasted Ponting's field placements on his twitter page.

However, when asked if he was the right man to captain Australia this summer, Ponting said, "Absolutely, I've got no doubt about that at all."

Ponting, who arrived in Sydney today after India's tour, said he can's do much if his captaincy is under fire but was disappointed that he could not cash in on the good starts he got in the Test series.