Agree wholeheartedly with what m1c and Ari said.
Ponting seemed to be a captain with no vision. He didn't build a team or an era the way Waugh, Taylor and even Border did. IMO the most likely reason for that is Ponting never knew anything but a time when Australia dominated. Waugh and Taylor emerged during Australia's growth back into a super power, but they also experienced the heartbreak of defeat by the West Indies in 88-89, 91 and worst of all 92-93 (that Adelaide Test still makes me sad).
For Ponting it was always a case of if someone's badly out of form, there's someone else to come in and do the job. But suddenly as captain, that depth of talent wasn't there and he had to rely on some young and unproven players. He failed to give them the support and confidence they needed and so they came and went sporadically...all except Marcus North who Ponting seemed unwilling to ever admit was never going to cut it.
The 2005 Ashes was a great example of how if a team stood up to him he had no real answers to grind the win anyway. The loss of McGrath killed him.
