SYDNEY—With a split lip, battered pride and a bitter taste in his mouth, Ricky Ponting returned home from England on Wednesday night feeling like no Australian captain has in 132 years of Test cricket.
But there's nothing wrong with his appetite.
"I would love to go back and give it one more crack," declared the nation's 42nd captain, and the only one to have surrendered the holy grail of the Ashes twice in England.
The flinty skipper flew into Sydney for a 10-day break to face the music - not the chin music of the English fast bowlers, or the cheeky music of the Barmy Army, which he can cope with any day, but the dirge that accompanies an unprecedented sporting failure.
He will be 38 years old when England next hosts the Ashes in 2013, but he remains as combative and optimistic as ever.
"I feel I am the best person to take this team forward," was his answer to calls for his scalp.
"My hunger is as strong as ever.
"I'm more determined than ever to be a better player and better captain."
But asked if he would fall on his own sword if he thought the young pup Michael Clarke might make a better top dog, he replied bluntly: "Absolutely. I'm not immune to criticism.
"Could I play on without being captain? Absolutely."
That is unlikely any time soon.
Ponting has the support of Cricket Australia and most former players, with the notable exception of Jeff Thomson, who has long thought his captaincy "crap".
But he has lost three of the past five series, presiding over Australia's worst slump ever to fourth since the introduction of Test rankings.
Ponting surpassed Allan Border as Australia's greatest Test run-scorer while in England, but acknowledged the buck stopped with the captain.
"Leaders are always judged on results," he said.
"I learned that in 2005, and I expect it's going to be similar this time around."
Ponting's mixed bag of emotions included bewilderment.
Australia scored more runs than England, took more wickets, produced five of the top six run scorers and the top three wicket takers, yet still lost 2-1 to the fifth-ranked team in the world.
"You wonder why on earth we haven't won the series convincingly," he said.
