Of course, a final and deciding Test in any series is highly anticipated.  Chennai in 2001 was just that, and so was Sydney in 2004.  Chennai lived up to the hype, and a sporting wicket produced a humdinger of a match that Ganguly’s Indians won by the skin of their teeth.  Sydney sadly didn’t.  Australia produced a flat pitch that allowed India’s brilliant middle order to become the first one to propel its team to a score over 700 runs against Australia in Australia, but Australia under Waugh still managed to wriggle off the hook and secure a draw.

What type of wicket awaits the teams at the Oval?  A flat pitch like the one Nasser Hussain’s England used to blunt a resurgent India in 2002? or a sporting wicket which helps both spin and reverse swing as well as rewards stroke play like the one last year when Kevin Pietersen's team beat South Africa on this ground? 

Despite brave talk about how he wants to purge the Ghosts of 2005, when the match was drawn, a drawn match here would suit Ponting just fine.  Ponting is under tremendous pressure to avoid the ignominy of joining old Billy Murdoch, and become the first Australian captain in living memory, i.e. since 1890 to lose two Ashes series in England.  That will surely be the thought that would be haunting Ponting’s nightmares.  And have no doubts about it, if he were to lose a second Ashes series in England, he would be tarred and feathered in his native land, and a lot of the gloss over his increasingly less impressive captaincy record would fade in an instant. 

Punter knows this well and no wonder he considers this a do or die match, and the biggest Test match of his life, i.e. his Last Stand.  His entire cricketing legacy as a Test captain rides on the result of this match.

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