Ponting blames green monsters for batting woes

The poor standard of pitches in domestic cricket has contributed to a rapid decline in Australia's batting standards, according to former skipper Ricky Ponting.

Australia's top batsmen have been badly exposed in recent years, regularly failing to show the temperament or technique required to succeed at international level.

The problem has been blamed on the increase in Twenty20 cricket, but Ponting thinks it runs much deeper.

Coupled with a lack of guidance from hardened senior players at domestic level, Ponting says bowler-friendly wickets in the Sheffield Shield are part of the problem.

"Until you’ve been there and played ... on the pitches that I've played on in the last couple of years, they have been so bad," Ponting told Yahoo7 Sport at the launch of his autobiography, At the Close of Play.

"It has been probably understated just how bad they have been."

There has been particular concern over the surface at Ponting's home ground in Hobart, especially early in the season.

Last summer, the three Sheffield Shield matches played there before the competition took a break for the Big Bash League yielded an average innings total of just 206, including five scores under 150. Just one batsman – Queensland's Usman Khawaja – reached three figures.

Ponting played nine first-class games for Tasmania last summer, scoring 911 runs as the Tigers took out the Sheffield Shield.

The experience gave him a first-hand look at the problems facing Australia's up-and-coming young batsmen.

And he said the bowler-friendly wickets leave them with only one choice - hit out or get out.

"The guys now (are) going out there knowing that they're going to get a ball that is going to get them out," he said.

"The ball is seaming and swinging and going all over the place, something's going to get them out. So they're playing a way that's trying to score as many as they can before they get one of those balls.

"So (David) Warner and (Phillip) Hughes and those guys, the way they play outside off stump, that's reflective of the conditions that they're brought up in.

"Because you know if you let one go that's short and wide outside off stump, if you get one there next ball, you might be out. So they're trying to maximize those opportunities."

Ponting says this leaves young batsmen unable to play the kind of long and patient innings that is required to succeed at the top level.

The former skipper also criticised national selectors for being impatient with Australia's young batsmen, notably Hughes and Khawaja.

Khawaja, 26, has been dropped on three occasions in his fledgling nine-Test career, while 26-Test 'veteran' Hughes, 24, has felt the selection panel's axe four times.

Ponting says unpredictable selection creates insecurity and places undue pressure on players.

"Usman and Hughesy and those guys are really good examples of guys being in and feeling like they're playing for their spot every time they walk out," he said.

"That can't be easy.

"Justin Langer always used to joke with me that he felt like that every time he went out to bat his whole career. That's what these guys are experiencing now.

"We talk about the loose shots that they play; I think they're playing loose shots because they're under pressure, they're under so much pressure.

"One because they probably don't have the self belief that experienced players have, but two they might just be a little bit worried if they’re going to get picked next week or not."