Ponting

Ricky Ponting today became the only batsman ever to score two tons in his centenary match. Aside from the fact that Ponting having played 100 tests makes me suddenly feel old, there was something else. He was also the top scorer in both Tests and ODIs for 2005. Which is truly amazing really, when you think that he had a total arse of an Ashes.
So - great player that he is - sorry, Ricky, but statistics don't tell the whole story. And I guess the same is true of England losing 2-0 in Pakistan. A good reminder perhaps, but to be honest, I don't think the English players really cared enough about winning or losing that series. They were still coming down off beating the Aussies, and more importantly, they came straight out of visits to the scene of the disaster following the Kashmir earthquake. I'm not saying they threw the game, simply that their passion to win, to give the country a bit of good news, was less than the home team's.
BTW - in case you think the Pakistan earthquake was part of the par-for-the-course Asian disasters, then think again. To the best of my memory, there hasn't been a big quake in Pakistan in something like 60 years; and a 7.7 quake like this one - which isn't especially huge - hasn't happened in recorded memory. In other words, the surprising suddenness of it is similar to a big quake suddenly hitting England; the preparedness is simply not there.
Sorry, I can;t think of any respectable way of tying up these two subjects - that's just the way it is. Fun, sport and celebration exist alongside death, destruction and tragedy; and that's one of the few things that won't change.