Cricket Australia 's chief James Sutherland says calls for Ricky Ponting to relinquish his captaincy in the wake of Australia's Ashes series loss to England are completely unfair.
Australia's 197-run loss in the fifth Test gave England a 2-1 victory and made Ponting only the second captain to lose twice in England since Billy Murdoch in the 19th century.
Ponting expects to come under scrutiny on his return home, after the defeat also saw Australia slip from first to fourth in Test rankings.
But Sutherland says the 34-year-old captain held himself very well in a difficult situation with a relatively young, inexperienced team.
He also defended the selectors, saying the Test was lost because Australia made only 160 in their first innings, not because they didn't have a specialist spinner at the Oval where the dry pitch turned from day one.
